Courts Strike Abortion Bans, Supreme Court Next

Even as medical science proves fetal viability ever earlier in gestation, federal appeals courts continue to strike down state laws protecting unborn viable human beings from abortionists.  Now, with Congress passing a ban on abortions after 20 weeks gestation, the Supreme Court will soon have no choice but to consider when life begins.

“It is high time for this court to revisit the issue” of abortion, Mississippi Atty. Gen. Jim Hood told the Supreme Court justices in a brief filed in early May.

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Physicians Force New York Times to Admit 22-week Fetus is a Baby!

Study Shows Babies Can Hear the Abortionist Coming

Abortionists Stymied by New Oklahoma & Kansas Laws

Abortion Outlawed in Florida for Viable Fetuses

Also read about new abortion restriction laws requiring tests for viability after 20 weeks in Ohio and also in Missouri.

And read Planned Parenthood President Asks, Who Cares When Life Begins?

-- From "Court nixes Idaho's 20-week abortion ban" by Peter Sullivan, The Hill 5/29/15

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Idaho's law violates Supreme Court precedent protecting abortions up to the point of viability for a fetus, which has been considered to be around 24 weeks.

Courts have struck down such bans before. In 2013, the 9th Circuit also ruled an Arizona ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy to be unconstitutional. The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to that decision.

Ten states currently have 20-week abortion bans, according to the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute. [Those states being Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia].

There has been rising support for 20-week bans among Republicans. . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Idaho's Abortion Ban Struck Down" by Matt Reynolds, Courthouse News Service 5/29/15

Idaho's Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is "facially unconstitutional," a 9th Circuit panel said in a 28-page ruling, because "it categorically bans some abortions before viability" and "places an undue burden on a woman's ability to obtain an abortion by requiring hospitalizations for all second-trimester abortions."

The panel found that Jennie McCormack and her attorney-physician Richard Hearn still faced the "lingering risk" of prosecution under a law which banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Therefore they could challenge the constitutionality of the law, the panel said.

In March 2013, Chief U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill found that the regulations are unconstitutional.

The 9th Circuit unanimously affirmed that decision on Friday . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arkansas: Stringent Abortion Limit Struck Down" by The Associated Press 5/27/15

A federal appeals court struck down one of the nation’s toughest abortion restrictions [Act 301 of 2013, the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act] on Wednesday, agreeing with a lower court that a state law unconstitutionally burdens women by banning abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy if a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit sided with doctors who challenged the law, ruling that abortion restrictions must be based on a fetus’s ability to live outside the womb, not the presence of a fetal heartbeat, which can be detected weeks earlier.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "8th Circuit Strikes Down Arkansas Abortion Law" by Joe Harris, Courthouse News Service 5/27/15

In 2014, an Arkansas federal judge sided with Supreme Court precedent and struck down the law.

Arkansas appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that the viability standard cannot be the end of the discussion when weighed against the state's interest in protecting human life.

The court did acknowledge that medical advances since Roe v. Wade - the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that privacy and due-process rights extend to a woman's decision to have an abortion - have moved fetus viability closer to conception, but found that "viability determination necessarily calls for a case-by-case determination and changes over time based on medical advancements" and that legislatures are better suited to make judgments in this area.

Circuit Judges Lavenski R. Smith, Duane Benton and Bobby E. Shepherd comprised the three-judge panel.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Court: 12-week abortion ban unconstitutional" by John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau 5/27/15

Then-Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, vetoed the bill [in 2013], saying it was unconstitutional, but the Republican-led Legislature overrode his veto.

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging Act 301 on behalf of two Little Rock doctors who perform abortions [Dr. Louis Jerry Edwards and Dr. Tom Tvedten].

Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, who sponsored the legislation that became Act 301, said he was disappointed with the ruling but happy that “every single woman who goes to a clinic is going to have to have an ultrasound. She will have to be informed if there is the presence of a heartbeat in the womb.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Supreme Court to decide whether to plunge back into abortion debate" by David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times 5/29/15

For years, the [Supreme Court] justices have steered clear of most abortion cases. A decision to turn down the latest appeals, from Mississippi and North Carolina, would be a victory for abortion rights advocates. . . .

At the Supreme Court, justices could announce as soon as Monday whether they will hear the Mississippi case. A decision on whether to hear North Carolina's appeal should come by mid-June.

Attorneys for the states that have passed new restrictions say the court should clarify the law governing abortions. In 1992, in its last sweeping abortion ruling, the high court said states may regulate the procedures so long as their rules do not put an “undue burden” on women seeking to end a pregnancy.

Lawyers for Mississippi called that a “vague and amorphous standard” which has not provided “meaningful guidance” to lawmakers or judges.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortion Edges Up as Important Voting Issue for Americans" by Rebecca Riffkin, Gallup 5/29/15

The percentage of Americans who say they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion has been edging up over the past seven years. The 21% who currently say this is, by one percentage point, the highest Gallup has found in its 19-year history of asking the question. The percentage of Americans who do not see abortion as a major issue in their voting decision has declined over the same period, and is now at 27%. Most of the rest (46%) say that abortion is one of many important factors they will take into account.

The recent uptick in the importance Americans place on where candidates stand on abortion comes as many states have enacted new or increased abortion restrictions. State lawmakers have passed more than 200 regulations on abortion since 2010, after Republicans gained control of many state legislatures. Republicans in Congress are currently advocating a federal bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, although President Barack Obama is unlikely to sign it.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read this Gallup poll: Americans Want Abortion Laws Changed

However, as Pro-life Laws Sweep America, Liberals Battle Back; for example, Abortionists and Satanists Team Up vs. Missouri Law

And read Abortionists Forced to Risk All in Supreme Court

N. Dakota Pro-life Laws Slammed by Media, Doctors

The North Dakota Medical Association is denouncing legislation just passed and currently being debated that limit abortion after six weeks gestation ("heartbeat bill") and that defines life at conception ("personhood").  Doctors say they must have a right to decide issues of life in consultation with their patients irrespective of government lawmaking.

Doctors think they're above the law?!  It's contagious (they caught it from activist judges).

For background, read Arkansas 12-week Abortion Law Most Restrictive in U.S. and also read Pro-lifers Prevail: More Abortion Restriction Laws

So far, Personhood Legislation is Battling Uphill in Courts

UPDATE 3/27/13: Gov. signs bills, prepares for legal attack from abortionists

-- From "ND Senate approves 'heartbeat' abortion ban" by James Macpherson, Associated Press 3/18/13

The North Dakota Senate on Friday approved banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, sending what would be the most stringent abortion restrictions in the U.S. to the state's Republican governor [Jack Dalrymple, who is pro-life,] for his signature.

It's one of several anti-abortion measures the state Legislature has weighed this session. The vote came with almost no debate in the Senate and after the same chamber approved another measure that would make North Dakota the first to ban abortions based on genetic defects such as Down syndrome.

That measure would also ban abortion based on gender selection. The Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion laws throughout the country, says Pennsylvania, Arizona and Oklahoma already have such laws.

Some supporters of the so-called fetal heartbeat measure have said they hope to send a message that North Dakota is anti-abortion and aims to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "North Dakota looks at more abortion restrictions" by Dave Kolpack, Associated Press 3/18/13

The "personhood" measures would ban abortions by defining human life as beginning with conception. It's drawing opposition from some doctors who say it could cause problems for infertile couples seeking to use in vitro fertilization to conceive, but supporters insist that's addressed in the legislation.

Dr. Stephanie Dahl, a Fargo infertility specialist, said Monday that the personhood measures could ban in vitro fertilization and force doctors to leave the state rather than face health care restrictions or possible criminal penalties. In vitro fertilization, or IVF, involves mixing egg and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring resulting embryos into the womb.

One of the key players in the anti-abortion campaign, state Sen. Margaret Sitte, a Republican from Bismarck, said she was "floored" by the assertions about limitations on in vitro fertilization. She said the proposals allow exceptions for the "screening, collecting, preparing, transferring, or cryopreserving a human being created through in vitro fertilization for the purpose of being transferred to a human uterus." Sitte said that clause was crafted with Dahl's help.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Anti-abortion attorney says ND bill won’t survive legal challenge" by Wendy Reuer, Forum News Service 3/18/13

Paul Linton, a Chicago-based attorney who has assisted other states with anti-abortion measures and served as general counsel to Americans United for Life . . . did not give an estimation of what litigation would cost, [but] if defeated, the state would pay not only its counsel, the attorney general, but the courts could also force the state to pay for attorney fees of those challenging the bill.

House Bill 1456 prohibits an abortion if a detectable heartbeat is found. . . . Another bill that passed, House Bill 1305, would ban abortions for gender selection or fetal anomalies.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "North Dakota has funds to fight over abortion" by The Associated Press 3/19/13

As oil-rich North Dakota moves toward outlawing most abortions, it's in a better position than most states for what could be a long and costly court battle over its restrictions.

Abortion-rights activists have promised a legal battle if the measures become law.

North Dakota has a budget surplus nearing $2 billion, thanks to new-found oil wealth.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read IVF: 'Creating' Life & Aborting Life in addition, read Lab Creates Human Life with 3 Biological Parents

Pro-lifers Prevail: More Abortion Restriction Laws

While establishment Republicans are now pushing to recreate the Party nationally toward a pro-homosexual stance, and ignoring its traditional pro-life position, conservative Republicans in state legislatures, along with the help of some Democrats, are passing more restrictive abortion legislation than ever.

With withering public support for baby-killing, abortionists have only one hope: activist pro-abortion courts.

Last week, Arkansas enacted a dramatic law restricting abortion after 12 weeks gestation.

"There are so many battles in so many states that are very similar that I think the bulk of the [Arkansas] law will, without question, make itself up to the [Supreme] Court."
-- Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List

For background, read Pro-life Legislation Floods America and also read Eroding Roe v. Wade State-by-state as well as Pro-life Position Prevails in Polls

UPDATE 7/8/13: Abortionists Lament Ever-greater State Limits

-- From "Anti-abortion law makes Arkansas ground zero in intensifying national debates" by Shannon Bream, FoxNews.com 3/11/13

. . . Pro-choice groups, citing Roe v. Wade and subsequent Supreme Court precedents, feel confident it's a fight they will win.

"The [Arkansas] bill is clearly unconstitutional, clearly inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent," Louise Melling, the American Civil Liberties Union's deputy legal director, said. ACLU officials said they are planning to jointly file a legal challenge with the Center for Reproductive Rights before the Arkansas law is set to go into effect.

While the so-called "Heartbeat Law" is hashed out in court, [State Sen. Jason Rapert, the Republican who authored the law,] says he plans to introduce a measure that would ban state officials from allowing any state or federal funds from flowing to organizations that perform abortions, namely Planned Parenthood.

If he succeeds, Arkansas would join a number of other states that have blocked funding to the family planning organization, including Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Why Have So Many States Banned Abortion?" by Chris Good, ABC News 3/12/13

Abortions are becoming illegal in America at a rapid clip.

Before 2010, no states banned abortions outright at any stage of pregnancy. Nebraska started the trend with a 20-week abortion ban in April 2010. In 2011, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma followed suit, and in 2012, Arizona, Georgia, and Louisiana passed curbs of their own. Last week, Arkansas became the first state to approve an abortion ban this year.

Abortion-rights activists are worried about a ban under consideration in North Dakota, plus a continuing wave of regulations on abortion clinics that, activists say, have forced clinics to close by making it impossible for them to operate. More of those regulations have advanced in recent years, too, opponents warn.

Combined with two major court cases that shifted the legal standards for limiting abortions, GOP gains at the state level have made it easier for groups like Americans United for Life (AUL), a national anti-abortion group that drafts model legislation in Washington, D.C., and works to pass it through state legislatures.

If states keep passing laws, and anti-abortion activists get their way, the Supreme Court may have to decide whether it will take up the issue once again.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arkansas’s Abortion Ban and One Man’s Strong Will" by Erik Eckholm, New York Times 3/11/13

Fetal heartbeat laws are already under consideration by legislatures in Ohio, Kansas and North Dakota, and have a good chance of passage in the coming year, their proponents believe, even though legal experts say they have little chance of surviving in federal courts.

Similar proposals are less far along in Kentucky, Mississippi and Wyoming.

Evangelical groups like the Family Research Council in Washington are among the enthusiastic promoters of fetal-heartbeat limits. But traditional leaders of the anti-abortion movement, like National Right to Life and the Roman Catholic Church, think such laws will quickly be overturned in federal courts, reinforcing the existing limit set by the Supreme Court that women have a constitutional right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks into pregnancy.

The largest anti-abortion groups prefer an incremental strategy that has resulted in hundreds of state laws to narrow abortion rights, like requiring women to have sonograms beforehand and imposing longer waiting periods.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Arkansas Gov.'s Veto Favoring Abortion Overridden

About one-fifth of American states restrict abortion after 20 weeks gestation now that the Republican dominated, pro-life legislature of Arkansas voted to override a veto by Democrat Gov. Mike Beebe.  The basis of the law is scientific evidence that the unborn baby feels pain after 20 weeks.

Further, the Arkansas Senate just passed the "heartbeat bill" that would restrict abortion after 12 weeks gestation; such a limit has yet to become law in any state.

For background, read 'Late-Term' Abortion Redefined: Fetal Pain and also read Pro-life Legislation Floods America as well as Missouri Dem. Gov. Gives on Abortion Restrictions

Critics say limiting abortion at 20 weeks in Arizona Cuts the Available Time to Kill Disabled Unborn Babies

UPDATE 3/7/13: Arkansas 12-week Limit becomes Law (over Gov. veto)



-- From "Arkansas Senate overrides veto of ban on most abortions starting in 20th week of pregnancy" by The Associated Press 2/28/13

The Republican-led Senate voted 19-14 along party lines to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill barring most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy that was based on the disputed notion that a fetus can feel pain by that point. The Arkansas House voted to override the veto Wednesday. A simple majority was needed in each chamber.

That law, which took effect immediately but which will likely be challenged in court, includes exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

After overriding the veto, the Senate voted 26-8 in support of a separate measure that would outlaw most abortions starting in the 12th week of pregnancy. In addition to the exemptions for rape, incest and the mother’s life, it would allow abortions when lethal fetal conditions are detected.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arkansas Law Restricts When Abortion May Occur" by Robbie Brown, New York Times 2/28/13

. . . The 20-week limit also violates the legal threshold set by the Supreme Court, which has held that states cannot ban abortions before the fetus becomes viable. Such a limit has not yet been tested by the courts.

Jason Rapert, an Arkansas state senator who sponsored the 12-week limit, says the Supreme Court provides too little guidance on determining viability, but that a heartbeat is an early sign of life. His goal is to prevent what he described as “abortion being used as birth control.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has said it will challenge both of Arkansas’s laws. A Planned Parenthood statement called the 12-week ban “blatantly unconstitutional” and “a brazen affront to the needs of women.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arkansas enacts abortion ban for babies feeling pain over Democratic governor's veto" by Ben Johnson, LifeSiteNews.com 2/28/13

Party loyalty and claims of impending legislation caused many Democrats to change their votes on House Bill 1037, which was introduced by Andy Mayberry. The original measure passed the House with 80 votes. Mayberry said yesterday he “started to get some warning signals” that the override vote “might be extremely close.”

The media have largely reported that there is no scientific evidence supporting the notion that children can feel pain at that stage of development. However, in 2011 the Chronicle of Higher Education presented testimony from researchers in neonatology and pediatrics that children at that stage of development could experience physical suffering.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arkansas Legislature Overrides Gov. Beebe's Veto of 20-Week Abortion Ban" by Melissa Barnhart, Christian Post Contributor 3/1/13

Beebe, who vetoed HB 1037 earlier this week, said in his veto letter that he's concerned about legal costs the state could incur if an outside organization decides to challenge the constitutionality of the bill.

"In the last case in which the constitutionality of an Arkansas abortion statute was challenged, Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Jegley (1999), the state was ordered to pay the prevailing plaintiffs and their attorneys nearly $119,000 for work in the trial court, and an additional $28,900 for work on the state's unsuccessful appeal," said Beebe.

According to Mayberry, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has claimed that they will challenge the law.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Abortion 'Heartbeat' Bill Moves in Ohio House

An Ohio state legislative committee has approved the “Heartbeat Bill” that would ban virtually all abortions in the state starting at the 22-day mark when an unborn child’s heart begins beating.

For background, read Ohio GOP Challenge Roe v. Wade

-- From "Ohio House panel OKs anti-abortion Heartbeat Bill" by Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press 3/30/11

A state House committee on Wednesday narrowly approved a bill that would impose the strictest abortion limit in the nation, outlawing the procedure at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

Supporters led by Janet Folger Porter, the director of the Faith2Action network of pro-family groups and a former legislative director of the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, have hoped aloud that the bill sparks a legal challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.

Porter has led a charge to line up a host of high-profile supporters for the bill. They have included Cincinnati physician Jack Willke, a former president of the National Right to Life Committee and founder of the International Right to Life Federation, and Phil Burress, whose Citizens for Community Values led the charge to ban gay marriage, among others.

The Roe v. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a woman's right to an abortion until fetal viability. A fetus is usually considered viable at 22 to 24 weeks. Fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ohio Cmte OKs Heartbeat Bill Banning Abortions, Pro-Lifers Split" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 3/30/11

The bill has divided the pro-life community in Ohio with Porter’s group supporting it along with Paula Westwood, Executive Director of Cincinnati Right to Life, Bobbi Radeck, state director of Concerned Women for America, and Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, supporting the measure.

But Marshal Pitchford, chairman of the Ohio Right to Life Society, says the legislation is problematic because it would not be upheld in court thanks to the 5-4 pro-abortion majority currently on the Supreme Court. If the bill is declared unconstitutional, Right to Life is concerned current pro-life laws that limit abortions and have saved lives would be overturned as well and result in an increase in the number of abortions.

Some “heartbeat bill” proponents say they followed the advice of several legal scholars when they drafted this bill, including a Cleveland State University professor but Pitchford says the same professor stated that the “heartbeat bill” should not be passed now and prefers to see a post viability ban be passed first or, otherwise, it would be “irresponsible and self-defeating to our cause” and could create additional legal problems for a total ban on abortion.

Gov. John Kasich, who is pro-life, has yet to take a position on the legislation.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.