Tag: abortion

Connecticut Parents Battle Bill to Mandate Comprehensive Sex Ed in Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Gender ideology and activities asking students about their favorite sex acts will be considered “age appropriate” in all Connecticut government schools if a bill mandating Comprehensive Sex Education is passed by the state legislature and signed into law, pro-family activists say.

Senate Bill 1 would mandate “comprehensive sex education that is age and developmentally appropriate and includes, but is not limited to, instruction about affirmative consent,” and would require the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) to recommend the curriculum for such “education.”

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Wisconsin Senator Baldwin Introduces Codification of Roe v. Wade

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) this week introduced legislation to codify the legality of abortion everywhere on American soil. 

Twelve states currently have laws that prohibit abortion during much or all of a woman’s pregnancy and many other states have restrictions that the Baldwin-Blumenthal legislation could threaten. The senators, who count 47 Democratic senators as cosponsors of their bill, want to act federally to reverse these statutes which were allowed to go into effect when the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 pro-abortion Roe v. Wade ruling last year. 

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Pro-Abortion State Representative Wants to Defund Pennsylvania Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Bradley Vasoli

A Pennsylvania state representative announced this weekend she plans to sponsor a bill to end state subsidization of pregnancy-resource centers, accusing these organizations of improperly trying to dissuade women and “birthing people” from getting abortions. 

“Crisis pregnancy centers are organizations that purport to provide medical services to pregnant women and birthing people but instead engage in deceptive practices to prevent them from having abortions,” Representative Melissa Shusterman (D-Paoli) wrote in a memorandum encouraging colleagues to cosponsor her measure. “The damage these organizations inflict upon people cannot be understated [and] amounts to a public health emergency.” 

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Pro-Life Activists Warn Ohio Ballot Initiative Would Eliminate Health and Safety Regulations and Parental Consent for Minor Abortions

Susan Berry, PhD

A ballot measure that would amend the Ohio state Constitution to remove current health and safety protections for women and girls seeking abortion and parental consent requirements for minors seeking the procedure has advanced following certification by the state attorney general’s office.

Pro-life organizations are rallying to oppose the “The Right to Reproductive Freedom With Protections for Health and Safety” initiative that they say will endanger the lives of women and girls seeking abortions.

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Center for Arizona Policy Celebrates Passage of Anti-Infanticide Bill in Arizona Senate

Neil Jones

Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) released a statement Monday from President Cathi Herrod, who praised the work of State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-Surprise) for sponsoring the “born alive” bill, which protects all babies born alive in the state.

“The Senate’s passage of SB 1600 along party lines tells you everything you need to know about which lawmakers refuse to draw the line before infanticide. The bill ends the inhumane practice known as “slow code,” in which healthcare professionals withhold medical care to babies not expected to live long in order to hasten their death,” Herrod said. “I am grateful for Senator Shamp’s courage in sponsoring this important bill.”

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Tennessee Right to Life Urges Lawmakers to Vote Against Bills Introducing ‘Exceptions’ to Human Life Protection Act

Susan Berry, PhD

Tennessee Right to Life is calling upon state lawmakers to vote against legislation that would rewrite the Human Life Protection Act by introducing “exceptions” which, the group says, would make the law “unenforceable.”

Senate Bill 745/House Bill 883 is slated to be heard in the state Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, February 28. Its companion bill in the state House will be heard in that chamber’s Health Committee Wednesday, March 1.

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Conservatives Have Their Work Cut Out for Themselves in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

M.D. Kittle

Supreme Court Justice candidate Daniel Kelly emerged victorious from Tuesday’s primary election, but the conservative finished a distant second to his opponent, far left Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz. 

While Kelly and fellow conservative candidate, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, divided up the right side vote (24 percent and 22 percent, respectively),  Protasiewicz grabbed 46.5 percent on her own. 

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Abortion Interests Clamor for Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Court Seat

Bradley Vasoli

Wisconsin abortion advocates are following up Tuesday’s nomination of liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice with strident calls for her election over conservative former Justice Daniel Kelly. 

Protasiewicz and Kelly beat right-leaning Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and progressive Judge Everett Mitchell of Dane County in Tuesday’s four-way nonpartisan primary. The following day, Dorow endorsed Kelly and Mitchell stated his support for Protasiewicz going forward. 

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Anti-Life Groups Propose Amendment to Enshrine Abortion in Ohio Constitution

Susan Berry, PhD

Two anti-life organizations submitted language for a new ballot initiative Tuesday that would enshrine abortion in the Ohio Constitution despite existing pro-life laws. 

Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR) filed the language for their ballot initiative titled The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety amendment with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R), according to a press release.

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Virginia Senate Democrats Move Against Babies Who Survive Abortion and Women’s Need for Informed Consent

Susan Berry, PhD

Senate Democrats in Virginia joined to block two bills Thursday, one that would protect babies who survive botched abortions, and another that would require abortion facilities to provide women in the state with informed consent in writing prior to undergoing an abortion.

Democrats voted against HB 1795, a bill that would require medical care to be provided infants who survive an abortion – in the same way it would be rendered “to any other child born alive at the same gestational age,” and that abortion providers would “take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care.”

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Authorities Punish Catholic Priest for Silently Praying Outside Abortion Clinic

Admin

Authorities in the United Kingdom charged a Catholic priest with violating a censorship zone when he silently prayed outside an abortion clinic while holding a sign that said “praying for free speech.”

Father Sean Gough, a pro-life priest stationed in Wolverhampton, England, had also parked his car in the area near the abortion clinic, which is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International. Authorities also took issue with Gough’s car, which has an “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker on it, ADF said.

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With New Majority, Pennsylvania House Democrats Prioritize Abortion and Stopping Voter ID

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Democrats in the House of Representatives are seizing their new majority in the state House of Representatives — secured this week with three special-election victories — to advance abortion and lose voting security. 

Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street, who represents part of Philadelphia in the state Senate, issued a statement congratulating Joe McAndrew, Abigail Salisbury and Matt Gergely, all of whom won Allegheny County-based House seats. The chair said he looks forward to the work he believes House leadership wants to do to keep abortion widely available and ensure Pennsylvanians need not submit identification to vote at the polls. 

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‘Disgraceful’: Associated Press Directs Journalists Not to Use ‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’ in New Abortion Guidance

Admin

The Associated Press added an entry to its style guide directing journalists to put the term “crisis pregnancy center” in scare-quotes, and to use “anti-abortion center” instead, to convey that “the centers’ general aim is to prevent abortions.” 

The AP added this entry between Nov. 20 and Nov. 27, 2022, according to The Daily Signal’s search of the Wayback Machine. The guide describes the centers as “set up to divert or discourage women from having abortions” and warns writers against “potentially misleading terms” like “pregnancy resource centers or pregnancy counseling centers.”  

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Charges Dropped Against Pro-Life Advocate Arrested for Silently Praying Outside Abortion Clinic

Admin

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a pro-life advocate and charity volunteer arrested for allegedly praying outside an abortion clinic, is continuing to seek legal action against United Kingdom authorities after prosecutors dropped charges against her.

Vaughan-Spruce was arrested in December 2022 after officers accused her of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in violation of England’s Public Protection Order zones that prohibit any kind of demonstration or “anti-social behavior” to protect abortion clinics. On Friday, the United Kingdom’s chapter of Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest legal group, announced in a press release that prosecutors had dropped the charges, but Vaughan-Spruce intends to pursue legal action anyway to get a “clear verdict.”

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Republican Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Permanently Block U.S. Foreign Aid Going to Fund or Promote Abortions

M.D. Kittle

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision last year ending federalized protections for abortion under Roe v. Wade hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from promoting abortion abroad. 

A group of Republican senators is reintroducing a bill that would permanently enact and expand existing prohibitions on the use of U.S. foreign assistance to pay for the performance or promotion of abortion services overseas.

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State Democrats Consider Repealing More of Minnesota’s Abortion Restrictions

Admin

Democrats just passed the Protect Reproductive Options Act, which critics are calling the most radical abortion law in the nation, if not the world. But they’re not done yet.

Next on the Minnesota DFL’s agenda is HF 91/SF70, which would essentially repeal what remains of Minnesota’s regulations on the abortion industry, including medical protections for infants who survive abortions and a ban on using public funds for the procedure under MinnesotaCare.

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Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Faces Judicial Conduct Complaint

M.D. Kittle

A Wisconsin resident has filed an ethics complaint with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission alleging Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice candidate Janet Protasiewicz violated the state Code of Judicial Conduct 

Randall R. Cook, a citizen and GOP supporter from Barron County, filed the complaint Monday asserting that the Milwaukee County judge has “announced how she will rule on issues that will likely come before the Supreme Court, such as abortion and the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s legislative maps.” 

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Ohio Congressman Calls Out FDA for ‘Illegal’ Approval of Mail-Order Abortifacients

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representative Bob Latta (R-OH-5) is leading a charge by federal lawmakers against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) relaxation of safety requirements for abortion drugs so consumers can access them by mail.

The Bowling Green-area lawmaker coauthored a letter with U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and garnered signatures from 75 other members of Congress to insist that the FDA’s recent actions violate federal law. In particular, the legislators object to the agency’s approval of chemical abortion-inducing substances while no longer requiring in-person dispensing. 

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Nationally Watched Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Is a Battle Beyond the Badger State

M.D. Kittle

The national left is all in on Wisconsin’s crucial Supreme Court race, a contest that will not only determine whether conservatives or liberals control the high court, but the fate of Gov. Tony Evers’ liberal agenda and, possibly, the 2024 presidential election. 

Conservative Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly, a former justice on the court, says the race is about the very survival of the constitution and the rule of law. 

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Republican Senators Re-Introduce No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

M.D. Kittle

In a show of pro-life solidarity, 47 Republican U.S. senators are re-introducing a bill that would establish a permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the lawmakers say, attempts to clean up inconsistent and haphazard policies that have regulated federal funding for abortion.

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Susan B. Anthony List Applauds 22 Pro-Life Attorneys General, Including Tennessee’s Skrmetti, in Urging the FDA to Reverse New Policy on Abortion Drug

Kaitlin Housler

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America recently thanked a coalition of 22 attorneys general, including Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, for sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the agency’s “illegal and dangerous” policy on mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug.

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Catholic Universities Continue to Endorse Pro-Abortion Agenda

Admin

Wednesday marked the start of this year’s National March for Life, the first since the right to an abortion was federally overruled in June of last year in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

In light of the impending Dobbs decision, Alcindor stated in May of last year that she was worried about “women who are poor, women of color [being] forced to have pregnancies that they cannot afford to terminate, and pregnancies that will then turn into children” if states ban abortion.

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New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith at March for Life: ‘Pro-Abortion Culture’ Is a ‘Modern-Day Flat Earth Society’

Susan Berry, PhD

The co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus told thousands of advocates for life on the National Mall in Washington, DC, that the “pro-abortion culture of denial” is a “modern-day flat earth society” that “continues to deny, devalue, and disrespect unborn baby girls and boys and trivialize the harm suffered by women.”

On Friday, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) spoke at the 50th annual March for Life – the first since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

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Commentary: New Abortion Numbers Don’t Show Whole Picture, Especially with Do-It-Yourself Abortions on the Rise

Admin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute each released new reports last November about abortion data for 2020, showing conflicting reports of a decrease in abortions versus a significant increase. While the lack of clarity in the number of abortions is alarming, the spread of do-it-yourself at-home abortions means that neither report is telling the whole story.

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Why We March: Historic 50th March for Life, First in Post-Roe Era

Susan Berry, PhD

Thousands of pro-life Americans and advocates from other nations will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Friday to celebrate the 50th March for Life, the first since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The March for Life Education and Defense Fund says the theme for the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration is “Next Steps: Marching into a Post-Roe America,” one that calls pro-life advocates to continue their work in defense of the unborn and their mothers on both the state and federal level, including advocacy for “a minimum federal standard to protect innocent life against radical pro-abortion legislation.”

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Ahead of the 50th Anniversary of Roe, 61 Percent of Americans Identify as Pro-Choice: Poll

Admin

A new poll found that 61% of Americans self-identify as pro-choice just ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.

The Knights of Columbus (KC), a Catholic charity organization designed to “bring financial aid and assistance” to those in need, released an annual poll Wednesday concerning Americans’ opinions on abortion alongside Marist College (MC), a private liberal arts college in New York. The 2023 poll found that 61% stated that they identified as pro-choice, a 6% increase from 2022 before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that abortion was not a Constitutional right.

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Exclusive: Reps. Harshbarger and Hern Introduce Bill to Stop Mail-Order Chemical Abortion

Kaitlin Housler

Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) and Kevin Hern (R-OK-01) introduced a bill Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives to invalidate the FDA’s recently-updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) of mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug.

Mifepristone is a chemical drug treatment that works together with misoprostol to end a pregnancy through ten weeks gestation, according to the FDA.
Mifepristone is a chemical drug treatment that works together with misoprostol to end a pregnancy through ten weeks gestation, according to the FDA.

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State Senator T.J. Shope Says Legislature will ‘Hold the Line’ on Hobbs’s Proposed Budget

Neil Jones

Following the unveiling of Gov. Katie Hobbs’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Executive Budget, State Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Florance) stated it was a budget he, and his GOP colleagues in the state legislature, would not support.

“My colleagues in the Senate GOP will not support this budget and its declaration of war on parents. We will not support taxpayer funded scholarship programs for non-citizens. We will not support a repeal of the Border Strike Force at a time when the scourge of fentanyl plagues our people,” Shope tweeted. “We are united and we will hold the line for the Arizona we love.”

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Minnesota State Senator Declines to State When an Unborn Baby Becomes a Person

Admin

The author of a bill that would create a “fundamental right” to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy refused to state when she thinks an unborn baby becomes a human person.

Minnesota Democrats are expediting their Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act through the Minnesota Legislature, emboldened by an election victory that saw them recapture the Senate and take full control of state government.

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House Democrats Oppose Resolution Condemning Violence Against Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Susan Berry, PhD

Nearly all House Democrats opposed a resolution Wednesday condemning the political violence against pro-life pregnancy centers and their supportive allies that occurred in the aftermath of the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The House voted, 222-209, to approve the resolution, introduced by Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) that states since the leak of the draft opinion, “individuals professing anti-life views have targeted, destroyed, or vandalized numerous pro-life facilities, groups, and even churches to further their radical cause.”

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DeSantis Wants to ‘Further Advance Protections for Innocent Life’

Admin

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who signed a 15-week abortion ban into law last year, wants more protections for Florida’s unborn babies.

“The upcoming 2023 Florida legislative session starts in March, and we look forward to working with the Florida Legislature to further advance protections for innocent life,” press secretary Bryan Griffin shared with The Daily Signal on Tuesday afternoon.

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Legislator Wants Pennsylvania Spousal Notification Requirement for Abortion Repealed

Bradley Vasoli

A lawmaker from Montgomery County is circulating a request to colleagues to back repeal of a requirement that a married woman seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania notify her spouse. 

In a preliminary description of the upcoming bill, state Representative Liz Hanbidge (D-Blue Bell) bemoaned last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. Hanbidge insisted that Pennsylvania’s founding principles of freedom and individual sovereignty should empower people to kill unborn life without constraint. 

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Idaho Supreme Court Finds No ‘Explicit Right’ to Abortion, Upholds Ban

Admin

The Idaho Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a state abortion law that bans the procedure except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother, rejecting the claim that the state’s constitution provides a right to abortion.

Idaho’s abortion law went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, but has been challenged in the courts multiple times by pro-abortion advocates.  The court ruled 3-2 to uphold the ban, stating that Idaho’s law that bans abortion under most circumstances does not violate due process or the right to privacy.

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Commentary: President Trump, the Pro-Life Movement Doesn’t Need Pro-Abortion Politicians

Admin

President Donald J. Trump started 2023 with a post on Truth Social which drew the ire of many in the pro-life community. Trump wrote, “It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations . . . It was the “abortion issue,” poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.” Trump went on to say, “Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, & just plain disappeared, not to be seen again.”

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Pro-Life Wisconsin PAC Endorses Justice Daniel Kelly in Supreme Court Primary

Bradley Vasoli

The Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund political action committee (PAC) on Thursday came out in favor of Justice Daniel Kelly’s election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 

Kelly previously served on the court from 2016 to 2020 but failed to get reelected that spring. This year, he will face state Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow (3rd District), Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell (Branch 4), and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz (Branch 24) in the February 21 primary. The top two vote-getters will compete for the high-court seat in an April 4 general election. 

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Pro-Life Leaders Push Back on Trump’s ‘No Exceptions’ Blame for Midterm Losses

Susan Berry, PhD

Former President Donald Trump accepted no blame for Republicans’ failure to achieve the anticipated “red wave” results in the midterm elections, but, instead, pointed a finger at pro-life candidates who insisted on “No Exceptions” to abortion as the reason for the party’s losses.

“It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday. “I was 233-20! It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.”

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Arizona Center for Policy President Says Court of Appeals Ruling on Abortion Not the End for Arizona’s Territorial-era Ban

Neil Jones

Arizona Center for Policy President Cathi Herrod, Esq., stated that the Friday ruling from the Arizona Court of Appeals “harmonizing” Arizona’s abortion laws to allow physicians to perform abortions up to 15 weeks in pregnancy is not the end for Arizona’s territorial-era ban on the practice.

“The fight to protect unborn life and women from the harms of abortion does not end with an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling. The three-judge panel’s decision today only temporarily blocks Arizona’s abortion law, which was in place in 1973 when Roe was wrongly decided,” said Herrod. “I am confident Arizona’s pre-Roe law limiting abortion to cases where the mother’s life is at risk will be upheld by Arizona’s Supreme Court.”

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Washington State Senators File Constitutional Amendment to Double-Down on Abortion Rights

The Center Square

Two Washington state senators have proposed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the rights to obtain an abortion and to use contraception in the state, both of which are already codified in state law. 

The proposed amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 8202, was filed Dec. 21 by Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, and Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, at the request of Gov. Jay Inslee according to a joint statement from the lawmakers.

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