Abortions Outlawed at 20 Weeks in South Dakota

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a bill this week criminalizing abortions at 20 weeks gestation.  The law includes an exception for the life of the mother in certain cases of emergency, but requires every effort be made to deliver the baby alive.  No exception is provided for cases of rape or incest.

"I think it'll save lives because it lets women know that their children really are humans just like us.  I think it's a great step forward for our state, and I would like to see us do more to protect the innocent."
-- Rep. Isaac Latterell (R) Tea, South Dakota

For background, read about court battles over late-term abortion restriction laws.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Late-term Abortion Ban Passes in West Virginia

Abortionists Stymied by New Oklahoma & Kansas Laws

Abortionists, Satanists Team Up vs. Missouri Law

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

Also read this Gallup poll: Americans Want Abortion Laws Changed

-- From "South Dakota Governor Signs 20-Week Abortion Ban Into Law" by James Nord, Associated Press 3/10/16

The measure allows abortions later than 19 weeks if there is a medical emergency, but a claim or diagnosis that a woman intends to kill or harm herself aren't part of the exemption. The law says that when such an abortion is necessary because of an emergency, the doctor must "deliver the child in the manner which ... provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive," but only if that is consistent with preserving the woman's life and preventing an "irreversible" impairment of a major bodily function.

Performing an abortion that violates the new threshold is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. A woman who gets such an abortion would not be subject to that consequence.

Similar laws are in effect in 12 other states. Courts have blocked laws in Arizona, Idaho and Georgia.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "New 20-week limit on abortions sent to governor" by Bob Mercer, Rapid City Journal correspondent 3/10/16

State senators gave final approval Wednesday 26-7 to the legislation, Senate Bill 72 . . .

Sen. Jeff Monroe, R-Pierre, was prime sponsor. His lead sponsor in the House was Rep. Isaac Latterell, R-Tea.

The House of Representatives passed the bill Monday 59-7. The House made changes that Monroe described as necessary to correct minor mistakes in the Senate version. Monroe was the only senator to speak on the matter Wednesday.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Daugaard approves 20-week abortion ban" by Dana Ferguson, Sioux Falls Argus Leader 3/10/16

Supporters say the measure aims to prevent excruciating pain fetuses experience during abortion procedures. While some doctors contend that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says evidence suggests that's not possible until the third trimester begins at 27 weeks.

Opponents including representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and reproductive rights groups have said the measure is unconstitutional as it bans abortions before the point of viability. They also said the measure could create health problems for some pregnant women.

Thirteen states have approved similar bans, according to the reproductive health think-tank Guttmacher Institute, which depart from the 22-24 week standard of a fetus' viability outside the womb established by the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. At least two of those bans in Arizona and Idaho were enjoined due to court orders, voiding the policies.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "South Dakota Criminalizes Late Abortions" by Lacey Louwagie, Courthouse News Service 3/11/16

Some called the bill unnecessary. The only clinic that performs abortion in South Dakota is Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, which will not perform abortions after the 14th week of gestation.

The bill's author, state Sen. Jeff Monroe, R-Pierre, called that "baloney."

"I don't believe they are cutting it off at 14 weeks," he told Courthouse News.

The bill requires medical professionals to fill out a form answering 23 questions about any abortion performed in the state. Information sought includes the reason for the abortion, the mother's age and race, the gestational age of the fetus, and how the procedure was paid for.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "South Dakota Governor Signs Pro-Life Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions After 20 Weeks" by Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews.com 3/11/16

[Gov.] Daugaard spokeswoman Kelsey Pritchard told the Associated Press that the state’s attorney general “will be prepared to defend the constitutionality of the bill” if pro-abortion groups challenge it.

The bill is modeled after the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which has become law in 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Though abortion advocates deny the science of fetal pain, researchers have established that unborn babies can feel pain at 20 weeks or earlier. Dr. Steven Zielinski, an internal medicine physician from Oregon, is one of the leading researchers into it. He first published reports in the 1980s to validate research showing evidence for unborn pain.

He has testified before U.S. Congress that an unborn child could feel pain at “eight-and-a-half weeks and possibly earlier” and that a baby before birth “under the right circumstances, is capable of crying.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Kill Baby to Save Mother? No! Says Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

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

New York Times Admits 22-week Fetus is a Baby!

In a stunning revelation, the liberal mainstream media have just discovered that pregnant women may, in fact, have "a person" developing in the womb — thanks to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine published yesterday concerning "fetal viability."

“[We now consider viability at 22 weeks,] but this is a pretty controversial area. I guess we would say that these babies deserve a chance. [But parents need to know that] the hospital that you go to might determine what happens to your baby.”
-- Edward Bell, study leader and pediatrics professor at the University of Iowa

For background, read 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 Study Shows Babies Can Hear the Abortionist Coming

What do the abortionists say?  Planned Parenthood President Asks, Who Cares When Life Begins?

In addition, read about the Georgia teacher ousted last month for revealing President Obama's position on infants who survive abortion.

-- From "Study of premature babies adds to questions for parents, doctors" by Pam Belluck, The New York Times 5/6/15

A new study of thousands of premature births found that a small minority of babies born a week or two before what is now generally considered the point of viability can be treated and survive, in some cases with relatively few health problems.

The findings may also have implications for the abortion debate. The Supreme Court has said states cannot ban abortion before a fetus is viable outside the womb, and 24 weeks has generally been cited by medical experts as the time of viability.

Recently, physicians who work with very premature infants have begun to consider it reasonable to offer active treatment for babies born at 23 weeks. A 2014 summary of a workshop that involved the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics said “in general, those born at 23 weeks of gestation should be considered potentially viable” as more than a quarter of them survive if treated intensively.

The study, involving nearly 5,000 babies born between 22 and 27 weeks gestation, found that 22-week-old babies did not survive without medical intervention. . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Study on premature babies raises questions about abortion and medical care" by Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post 5/7/15

[The study] is heartening news in the world of pediatrics. But it also adds to a list of questions for parents, doctors and lawmakers by challenging the accepted age for “viability” — a standard that has defined the debates about abortion and intensive neonatal care.

According to Neil Marlow, a neonatology expert at University College London, many doctors have assumed that 22 weeks was too early for a child to be a candidate for intensive care because fatality rates were so high. But the NEJM study shows that those high rates are in part due to doctors’ reluctance to attempt a painful intervention on a newborn that’s unlikely to survive.

. . . the Supreme Court has long crafted its abortion rulings around the idea of viability. In Roe v. Wade the court ruled that states could not restrict abortions before the 28th week of pregnancy, at the time thought to be the earliest a newborn could survive on its own.

The 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, acknowledging that advances in neonatal care made survival of even more premature babies possible, detached the “viability” marker from the 28-week standard but left the sentiment of the original ruling intact: “We reaffirm … the right of the woman to choose to have an abortion before viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State,” read the majority opinion.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Hospital efforts to save very premature babies vary widely" by Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press 5/6/15

The study involved nearly 5,000 babies born before 27 weeks gestation at 24 hospitals in a research group run by the National Institutes of Health between April 2006 and March 2011.

Researchers looked at rates of comfort care versus active treatment, such as breathing machines, feeding tubes or heart resuscitation. Active treatment was given to 22 percent of babies born at 22 weeks, 72 percent of those at 23 weeks and nearly all beyond that.

Survival rates were higher for the actively treated babies — 23 percent versus 5 percent for all babies in the study born at 22 weeks, and 33 percent versus 24 percent for those born at 23 weeks.

About 12,000 babies each year in the United States are born between 22 and 25 weeks gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "No Standard Treatment for Extreme Preemies - Practice differences appear to explain survival disparities" by Sarah Wickline Wallan, Staff Writer, MedPage Today 5/7/15

"This article raises important questions about what information should be given to parents during counseling about risks after an extremely preterm birth," Neil Marlow, DM, wrote in an accompanying editorial. "To give crude data on the survival rate among all such infants, regardless of whether treatment efforts were made, is misleading and helps to make poor survival a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"The NICHD NRN (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network) collects data only on live births in specialist hospitals and is not population-based; thus these data cannot be used to explore attitudes underlying the decision to provide or withhold treatment or to evaluate antepartum fetal deaths," added Marlow, who is from the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women's Health at University College London.

"The study should prompt physicians, hospitals, state governments, and professional societies to accelerate efforts to provide perinatal regionalization programs that will optimize access of these extremely premature babies to level 3 and 4 perinatal centers that can provide skilled, experienced active treatment in the delivery room when parents and physicians decide in favor of active treatment," F. Sessions Cole, MD, director of the division of newborn medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in an email to MedPage Today.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Gallup poll, Americans Want Abortion Laws Changed

As Pro-life Laws Sweep America, Liberals Battle Back

Abortionists, Satanists Team Up vs. Missouri Law

Abortionists Stymied by New Oklahoma & Kansas Laws

Also read Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif. and chairman of House Democratic Caucus) won't answer if unborn child 20 weeks into pregnancy is human being. (video)

Abortion Outlawed in Florida for Viable Fetuses

Yesterday, the state of Florida enacted a new law (House Bill 1047) in line with the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding regulation of abortion of babies capable of living apart from the mother. Opponents of the law say that mothers must be permitted to decide when and if they want their babies killed, not just some licensed physician who may claim a baby is a human being with a right to live.

“Governor Scott is pro-life and was glad to sign this bill that protects the lives of children.”
-- John Tupps, spokesman for Florida Gov. Rick Scott

For background, read Abortionists Lament Ever-greater State Limits and also read Pro-life Laws Sweeping States, Roe Challenge Soon as well as Abortion Clinic Closings Set Record; Admit Defeat

In addition, read how states are cracking down on the murderous abortionists.

Also read about the desperate, go-for-broke strategy by abortionists in hopes to stem the flood of new state-level, abortion-restricting laws.

-- From "Florida governor signs new abortion restrictions" by Bill Cotterell, Reuters 6/13/14

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed legislation on Friday barring late-term abortions in cases where doctors determine an unborn child could survive outside the womb, in a move critics say further chips away at abortion rights.

Existing Florida law forbids abortion after 24 weeks' gestation, unless a woman's life or health is jeopardized by continued pregnancy.

The new law, effective next month, sets the no-abortion point at any stage of development when a doctor determines the fetus is viable.

Once fetal viability is attained, no abortion would be allowed under the new law unless two doctors certify in writing that termination is necessary to save the patient's life or to "avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function ... other than a psychological condition."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gov. Rick Scott signs late term abortion bill" by Steve Patrick, WJXT-TV4 (Jacksonville, FL) 6/13/14

The law takes effect July 1.

The bill passed the House 70-45 and Senate 24-15 in a vote clearly along party lines.

Florida Planned Parenthood's political action committee launched a voter campaign designed, in the words of CEO Lillian Tamayo, to focus on "the wave of anti-women's health legislation."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gov. Scott Signs Late Term Abortion Bill" by CBSMiami/AP 6/13/14

Democrats opposed the legislation throughout the committee process and during the 2014 session. Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, is worried that doctors could be open to criminal prosecution and said different physicians can have different determinations.

Former Senator Nan Rich is running for the Democratic nomination in the race for Governor this fall. She said in a written statement that Scott’s signing is “an outrage.”

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops have consistently supported the legislation and said advances in medicine and technology has shown that, “some babies are capable of survival outside of the womb in the second trimester.”

“This good legislation protects our society’s most vulnerable, the unborn, and recognizes that an unborn child who is viable and can sustain life outside of the womb has a right to life,” spokeswoman Ingrid Delgado said in a written statement.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Planned Parenthood President Asks, Who Cares When Life Begins? as well as President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood

Liberal Court Forces Roe v. Wade back to Supremes

With myriad new state laws restricting abortion in the earliest weeks of gestation, Tuesday's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down Arizona's 2012 20-week abortion law will most certainly force the Supreme Court to hear the case and thus "open Pandora's box."

For background, read details of the Arizona law and the previous lower court ruling.

In addition, read Pro-lifers Prevail: More Abortion Restriction Laws and also read Pro-life Legislation Floods America as well as Eroding Roe v. Wade State-by-state

-- From "Arizona abortion ban struck down" by The Associated Press 5/21/13

A three-judge panel of the court said the law violated a woman's constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus can survive outside the womb. "Viability" is generally considered to begin at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks.

Nine other states have enacted similar bans at 20 weeks or even earlier. Several bans have been placed on hold or struck down by other courts.

Judge Marsha S. Berzon, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based court, said such bans before viability violated a long string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings starting with the seminal Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Appeals court: Arizona abortion restriction unconstitutional" by Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services 5/21/13

In a unanimous decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that the law on what states can and cannot restrict have varied since the landmark 1973 case of Roe v. Wade. That ruling barred states from banning a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy, at least during the first trimester.

Berzon said states can regulate the mode and manner of terminating a pregnancy prior to viability — but not more.

"It may not proscribe a woman from electing abortion, nor may it impose an undue burden on her choice through regulation,” she wrote.

But it is not likely the last word. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who personally argued the case to the appellate court, has said he sees the law as a chance to have the whole issue revisited by the U.S. Supreme Court.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Arizona Law Limiting Abortions Tossed Out" by Tim Hull, Courthouse News Service 5/21/13

After Arizona House Bill 2036 became law in April 2012, three doctors sued to stop it from going into effect. Paul Isaacson, William Clewell and Hugh Miller, with help from the ACLU of Arizona, won an emergency injunction . . .

In a concurrence in which [9th Circuit] Judge Andrew Kleinfeld appeared to be apologizing for following Supreme Court precedent, he pointed out . . . "Were the statute limited to protecting fetuses from unnecessary infliction of excruciating pain before their death, Arizona might regulate abortions at or after 20 weeks by requiring anesthetization of the fetuses about to be killed, much as it requires anesthetization of prisoners prior to killing them when the death penalty is carried out."

Kleinfeld lamented that viability remains the "'critical fact' that controls constitutionality," because its definition "changes as medicine changes."

"The briefs make good arguments for why viability should not have the constitutional significance it does, but under controlling Supreme Court decisions, it does indeed have that significance," he wrote.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortion ban after 20 weeks rejected" by Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services 5/22/13

Montgomery said he believes the [Supreme Court] justices will conclude the state has a right to impose restrictions -- even strict ones -- on abortions for legitimate reasons.

But Montgomery may have an uphill fight, especially if the justices see Montgomery's defense of the Arizona law as a bid to overturn Roe v. Wade and its 40 years of precedent. So Montgomery said he'll try instead to ask the high court to find the Arizona law is a legitimate exception.

But he's prepared for a direct challenge.

"I would certainly prefer, not as an advocate in the right-to-life issue but as an attorney, for the court to address head-on whether or not the presumptions that Roe was premised on truly exist to this day and can fairly be said to demand ongoing deference as a matter of precedent," Montgomery said. "I don't think it can."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Appeals Court Strikes Down Arizona Law Banning Abortions at 20 Weeks" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 5/21/13

The ruling does not affect similar laws passed in other states except the law in Idaho, which is also covered under the jurisdiction of the [9th Circuit] appeals court.

The Center for Arizona Policy helped draft HB 2036, known as the Mother’s Health and Safety Act, and testified in support of the bill and complained when the ACLU sued.

“Once again, we see supposed ‘pro-woman’ organizations fight to protect abortion-on-demand despite the serious risks abortion presents to new moms,” said Cathi Herrod, President of Center for Arizona Policy. “The medical evidence presented during committee hearings make it clear that abortions after 20 weeks present a much greater risk to the life of the women. There is also substantial medical evidence that preborn children can feel pain at this age.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

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.

New Ohio Law Bans Late-term Abortions

Governor John Kasich signed the viability abortion restriction into law -- a bi-partisan bill that passed the legislature by an overwhelming margin.

For background, read Abortion Viability Restriction Likely in Ohio and also read Pro-life Legislation Floods America

-- From "Gov. John Kasich signs late-term abortion ban into law" by Joe Guillen, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com 7/20/11

House Bill 78 bans abortions when a doctor determines a fetus can live outside the womb — a condition known as viability, which is typically when a pregnancy is 23 to 24 weeks along. Doctors would be required to test for viability when a woman is 20 weeks’ pregnant or more.

The law will take effect after 90 days.

Abortion-rights groups and most Democrats opposed the ban, saying it violates women's rights and there is no exception in the law for cases of rape or incest.

Five other states have passed the same legislation and 39 other states have some type of late-term abortion ban, according to Ohio Right to Life. The organization is confident the ban will withstand potential legal challenges.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs late-term abortion bill" by Jo Ingles, Reuters 7/20/11

The only exception in the Ohio law is when the woman's life is in danger.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion rights group, said in a statement that the law targets women with wanted pregnancies who experience "heart-breaking complications" such as a fetal anomaly or a cancer diagnosis.

The Ohio House of Representatives last month passed a bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which can be as early as six weeks. That bill is not expected to reach the state senate until September.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ohio Gov. John Kasich Signs Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 7/20/11

“Abortions can currently be performed in Ohio up to the moment of birth, but many doctors agree that a child can live outside the womb after just 22-24 weeks,” Senator Peggy Lehner, one of the bill sponsors, said. “This bill will prevent late-term abortions…and help better protect our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.”

Ohio Right to Life has lobbied for the bill, saying it is strong pro-life legislation that will protect women, save babies’ lives and is part of an overall national strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Late-Term Abortion Ban would require physicians to test the viability of an unborn child if the mother were seeking an abortion at 20 weeks or later into her pregnancy. If the child is found to be able to live outside the mother’s womb, the abortion cannot be performed, except in circumstances where the pregnancy is a threat to the mother’s health. The measure also contains language making it clear a mental health exception can’t be used to get around the ban — especially since a substantial amount of research shows abortions pose mental health risks for women.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

MO Dem. Gov. Gives on Abortion Restrictions

Missouri doctors and hospitals will face new restrictions and penalties for performing late-term abortions after Gov. Jay Nixon announced Thursday that he would let legislation backed by anti-abortion groups take effect without his signature.

For background, read Abortion Restricted in Missouri after 20 Weeks and also read 'Late-Term' Abortion Redefined: Fetal Pain

-- From "Dem Governor Lets Bill Limiting Late-Term Abortions Become Law--Without His Signature" by David A. Lieb, Associated Press 7/14/11

Nixon, a Democrat, cited a section of the Missouri Constitution that allows bills to become law if not signed or vetoed by the governor within 45 days after the Legislature adjourns. Thursday was the deadline for him to take action.

At a signing ceremony in Kansas City for unrelated legislation, Nixon told reporters that abortion "is a public policy obviously that's talked about in Missouri tremendously, and I've tried to — you know — make sure that we are sensitive to all sides of the issue."

This marks the second straight year that Nixon has allowed an anti-abortion bill to become law without his signature as he attempts to walk a political tightrope by neither directly supporting nor opposing the measures. His decision was praised by some anti-abortion activists.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gov. Nixon allows abortion bill to become law; signs other life legislation" by Jennifer Brinker, St. Louis Review 7/15/11

The bills, HB213 and SB65, were sponsored by Rep. Timothy Jones R-Eureka, and Sen Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, respectively.

Nixon also recently signed several other life-related bills, including a piece of legislation requiring the Department of Health and Senior Services to post information about cord-blood banking. Cord blood harvested from an infant’s umbilical cord is rich in adult stem cells and has been used to treat numerous illnesses.

Finally, Nixon signed a bill that will allow adult adoptees better access to information about their biological parents. The bill relaxes rules that govern the release of the identity of biological parents for adoptees wanting that information.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "New Missouri late-term abortion restrictions to become law" by Jason Noble, Kansas City Star 7/14/11

Also under the bill, abortion providers are required to determine the gestational age of a fetus before performing the procedure. For any fetus 20 weeks of age or more, the doctor must determine whether it is viable.

Performing an abortion on a viable fetus when the mother’s health did not require it would be a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Abortion Restricted in Missouri after 20 Weeks

The legislature, with veto-proof majorities, passed restrictions to abortions past 20 weeks gestation unless the fetus is proved to be not "viable" plus a second physician's evaluation of the mother -- a law unlike other states' latest legislation.

"I'm pro-life for myself, but I'm pro-choice for everyone else."
-- Rep. Tishaura Jones, D-St. Louis

For background, read Pro-life Legislation Floods America and also read 'Late-Term' Abortion Redefined: Fetal Pain

-- From "Bill with stricter abortion limits goes to Nixon" by Jason Noble, Kansas City Star 5/12/11

Performing an abortion on a viable fetus when the mother’s health did not require it would be a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat.

Rep. Tim Jones, the Eureka Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, said the changes rewrite Missouri’s ban on “partial-birth” abortion to be a ban on “late-term” abortions.

With passage of the bill, Jones said, Missouri joins Kansas as the only states in the nation with a true late-term abortion ban.

The House passed the bill on a bipartisan 121-33 vote on the next to the last day of its 2011 session. The Senate approved it 27-5 in early April.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortion restrictions pass Missouri Legislature" by Rebecca Berg, St. Louis Post-Dispatch 5/13/11

Current state law already prohibits abortions of fetuses considered viable except "to preserve the life and health of the woman." The new measure would allow such an abortion only in the case of a medical emergency or if the life of the mother is at serious risk. Though some legislators lobbied for it, an exception was not added for the mental health of the mother.

The other change in the new bill specifies that the new restrictions apply to abortions after 20 weeks. Current law does not set an exact gestational age, but instead relies on viability alone to determine what constitutes a late-term abortion.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "With veto-proof majorities, legislature passes new abortion restrictions" by Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies, St. Louis Beacon political reporter 5/12/11

State Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, called Jones' bill "a constitutionally defensible bit of legislation that relates to the primary purpose of government -- the protection of life." He mentioned seeing a sonogram of his first grandchild after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

"That is a child, that is a child, which government must defend," Cox said, referring to the picture. "To defend the weak is the primary role of government."

State Rep. Paul Curtman, R-Pacific and an abortion opponent, read portions of the U.S. Constitution that he said made clear that "we're all entitled to equal rights and opportunity under the law,'' whether born or in the womb.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Late-term abortion bill heads to Missouri governor" by Bruce Olson, Reuters 5/12/11

. . . Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst with the Guttmacher Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based pro-choice group that tracks state abortion laws, said Missouri's law is unique.

"It doesn't ban abortion outright at 20 weeks," Nash said. "What it says is you have to determine if the fetus is viable or not after 20 weeks. Before doing the procedure a number of tests are required including lung maturity. If the fetus is not viable, then you report those findings and you can do the abortion."

Nash said the emphasis on viability means the Missouri law could stand a better chance of withstanding legal challenges. This is because the U.S. Supreme Court has moved away from a trimester-based approach when considering laws that limit abortion and toward an approach based on viability.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Abortion Viability Restriction Likely in Ohio

The Ohio Senate has approved a bill pro-life advocates support that would ban late-term abortions. The Ohio Right to Life supported bill passed today by a 24 to 8 vote with overwhelming bipartisan support.

For background, read 'Late-Term' Abortion Redefined: Fetal Pain and also read Pro-life Legislation Floods America

-- From "Ohio Senate passes bill limiting late abortion" posted at Reuters 4/6/11

A bill that would require doctors to determine the viability of an unborn child if a woman seeks an abortion after 20 weeks passed the Ohio Senate on Wednesday.

[Executive director of Ohio Right to Life, Mike] Gonidakis said a doctor seeking to perform an abortion has to determine viability at 20 weeks and get a second opinion from another doctor, and abortion would not be allowed if the fetus was found capable of surviving outside the womb. Exceptions would be made if the pregnant woman faces death or severe health impairment, Gonidakis said.

The bill passed by a 24-8 vote in the Republican-majority Senate. The Ohio House also has a Republican majority.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ohio Senate OKs Late-Term Abortion Ban Pro-Life Group Backs" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 4/6/11

. . . The measure also contains language making it clear a mental health exception can’t be used to get around the ban — especially since a substantial amount of research shows abortions pose mental health risks for women.

S.B. 72, sponsored by Senator Peggy Lehner, a Dayton Republican and 15 additional co-sponsors, would save countless lives every year in the state of Ohio, and would be the most important piece of pro-life legislation Ohio has passed in years.

Ohio Right to Life expects S.B. 72 to move to the House of Representatives soon, where the Ohio House Health and Aging Committee approved a companion version of the bill in March. H.B. 78 is sponsored by Rep. Joe Uecker (R -Loveland) and Rep. Kristina Roegner (R-Cuyahoga Falls).

Abortions have gone down in Ohio, with the state health department reporting 28,721 in 2009, down three percent from the 2008 abortion total and the ninth straight year of decline. Since 2000, abortions are down 40 percent in the state.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Abortion 'Heartbeat' Bill Moves in Ohio House

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.

Pro-life Legislation Floods America

The national legislative landscape is leaning pro-life, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America. It claims lawmakers are debating 351 anti-abortion bills this year, compared to 174 in 2010.

For background, read America Turns Against Abortion on Demand, as seen when 'Life' Won the 2010 Election, and also read about state pro-life laws immediately thereafter.

Not surprisingly, Media See Pro-lifers Gaining on Abortionists

It is clear that States' Abortion Laws Reflect Growing Public Abhorrence

UPDATE 4/15/12: 2012 maintains pace of state abortion restrictions

UPDATE 1/8/12: Abortionists say 2011 was banner year for pro-life legislation

UPDATE 5/31/11: San Francisco journalist struggles to explain pro-life America

UPDATE 5/10/11: Liberal NPR outlines pro-life progress across America

UPDATE 4/16/11: Abortionists Lament Pro-life Fury in States

-- From "Wave of anti-abortion bills advance in the states" by David Crary, Associated Press 3/24/11

Dozens of bills are advancing through statehouses nationwide that would put an array of new obstacles -- legal, financial and psychological -- in the paths of women seeking abortions.

The tactics vary: mandatory sonograms and anti-abortion counseling, sweeping limits on insurance coverage, bans on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. To abortion-rights activists, they add up to the biggest political threat since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 that legalized abortion nationwide.

What's different this year is not the raw number of anti-abortion bills, but the fact that many of the toughest, most substantive measures have a good chance of passage due to gains by conservative Republicans in last year's legislative and gubernatorial elections. On Tuesday, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law a bill that would impose a longest-in-the-nation waiting period of three days before women could have an abortion -- and also require them to undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers that discourage abortions.

Of the various types of bills, the insurance bans could have the broadest impact, according to some abortion-rights activists.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Lawmakers See Surge of Anti-Abortion Bills" posted at KOLR/KSFX TV Springfield, MO 3/25/11

Felecia Epps, a law professor at the UALR Bowen School of Law, says part of the increase in anti-abortion legislation is due to the freshly-elected crop of conservative lawmakers.

Recent Supreme Court rulings are another factor, Epps says, rulings that fail to define what barriers states can put on legal abortions.

"(For example) What type of restrictions are really going to be a burden, and what can the state do in terms of informing, having waiting periods, legitimately," Epps said. "I think what's happening is states are putting more obstacles out there, so there's more things a woman would have to go through in seeking an abortion."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortion battles spring up nationwide as states test the limits of Roe v. Wade" by Stephanie Condon, CBS News 3/21/11

The anti-abortion rights movement last year found itself in a set of circumstances that have all worked to advance their agenda. Most importantly, states across the country elected new, emboldened conservative politicians. Hundreds of anti-abortion rights legislators and a net of 12 new anti-abortion rights governors were elected, according to Americans United for Life.

Meanwhile, a set of news-making events in the past year -- such as the passage of health care reform and video of the conservative "sting" on Planned Parenthood -- galvanized conservative activists. National leaders are more vocal than ever on the issue. And a possibly sympathetic swing vote now sits in the Supreme Court.

Debates about abortion rights often take place on the national political stage, but the bulk of the work happens in Columbus, Des Moines, Topeka and other state capitals across the country. "Ninety-five percent of what happens in any sort of laws or regulations on abortion happens at the state level," McConchie said.

Several of the state bills currently pending can be judged in the context of the 1992 Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which established that a state has an interest in the life of a fetus. Under that premise, the state can, for the most part, ban abortion at the point a fetus becomes "viable" (meaning it could survive outside of the womb). Many states now prohibit abortion, with certain exceptions, at the point of "viability," and several specifically ban abortion at either 24 weeks or the third trimester, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research center.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below for related articles:

Louisiana: Restricting Abortion After 20 Weeks

First Abortion-free State May Be Mississippi

Arizona Outlaws Abortion after 20 Weeks, Cutting Time to Kill Disabled Unborn

Virginia Law Requires Ultrasound Before Abortion

Michigan to Ban Partial-birth Abortion

New Ohio Law Bans Late-term Abortions

Missouri Dem. Gov. Restricts Abortion after 20 Weeks

Abortions Restricted via Texas Sonogram Law

Abortion Viability Restriction Likely in Ohio

Most Abortion Clinics to Close in Virginia

South Dakota Law Mandates Pro-life Counseling Pre-Abortion

Arizona Abortion Ban for Race/Gender Selection

'Late-Term' Abortion Redefined: Fetal Pain

Abortion Fetal Pain Bill Passes Iowa House

Abortion 'Heartbeat' Bill Moves in Ohio House

Tea Party Christians Dominate Florida, Target Abortion

Ohio GOP (with Tea Party Power) Challenge Roe v. Wade

Several Pro-life Bills Considered in Texas

Illinois Abortion Safety Law Moves in House

Abortion Eliminated in Georgia: Senate Bill

Outlawing On-line Abortion: Nebraska, Iowa

Defund Abortionists, Say All Pres. Candidates

UPDATE graph 2012:

Ohio GOP Challenge Roe v. Wade

The Christian Tea Party power is playing out in many states, including Ohio where the November 2010 election placed Republicans in control, as the legislature begins with the most significant challenge ever to the Supreme Court 1973 ruling on abortion.



-- From "Ohio abortion ban could be most restrictive" by Karen Kasler, Statehouse Bureau Chief, WKSU (NPR) 2/9/11

Ohio could have the most restrictive law on abortion in the nation, if the so-called “Heartbeat Bill” passes. The measure would ban abortion after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, which can be as early as five weeks after conception. Sponsoring Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (watch-man) of Napoleon says other states will be watching the outcome of this bill, which could test the limits of nearly 40 years of case law on abortion.

Ohio Right to Life is on record as opposing the bill, saying it doesn’t stand a chance of being upheld as constitutional. It’s instead pushing a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks – a point at which the antiabortion group says a fetus can live outside the body.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortions would be costly, difficult to get under new bills" by Laura A. Bischoff, Dayton Daily News 2/12/11

With state government now firmly under Republican control, lawmakers are considering:

• Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 63. Requiring courts to ask teens who are seeking permission to have an abortion if they understand the possible physical and emotional complications.

• House Bill 79. Prohibiting health care plans that participate in the state insurance exchange from covering elective abortions.

• Banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as five weeks.

• House Bill 78 and Senate Bill 72. Banning abortions after 20 weeks gestation.

• House Bill 7. Banning abortions after 22 weeks gestation.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "OH Bill Aims to Ban Almost All Abortions" by Violet Ikonomova, WTAP TV-5 News (Parkersburg, WV) 2/10/11

Meanwhile pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood have come out against the bill. The head of the group's legislative arm in Ohio says it's obviously unconstitutional and if passed, would be tied up in litigation for years.

And some anti-abortionists share that sentiment.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ohio Abortion Proposal Challenges Roe v. Wade" by Jennifer Wishon, CBN News Washington Correspondent 2/10/11

In the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, women have the right to an abortion until their fetus is viable or able to live outside the womb. It's only at the point of viability that states can restrict abortion under the ruling.

A constitutional challenge to Roe v. Wade is what many pro-life Americans want. The heartbeat bill in Ohio is one of a handful of measures moving through various state legislatures aimed at restricting abortions.

Whether the legislation . . . passes or not, newly elected Republicans have made it clear they intend to act on their pro-life principles.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.