A federal judge this week blocked three Arkansas pro-life laws from going into effect, including one that would ban abortions targeting unborn babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking three laws: Act 493, which bans […]
Courts
Litigation and rulings.
Kansas Constitution Provides Abortion 'Rights,' Court Rules
The Kansas Supreme Court blocked a law that would have banned the most commonly used procedure for second-trimester abortions, arguing that the state Constitution protected the right of women to "decide whether to continue a pregnancy." The court sided in a 6-1 majority with the plaintiffs in the case, two physicians who performed the procedure, in a sweeping ruling that opens the door for abortion rights activists to challenge a series of other restrictions that the state's Republican-controlled Legislature has enacted. Read more...
Supreme Court Turns Down Pro-Life Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by pro-life activists to narrow a Planned Parenthood lawsuit accusing them of illegally recording video of abortion providers to try to falsely show the illicit sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. The justices declined to hear an appeal by the activists of a lower court's refusal to toss out fraud, invasion of privacy and other claims under California law made in the civil lawsuit by Planned Parenthood, a women's healthcare and abortion provider. Activist David Daleiden and his group, the Center for Medical Progress, had argued they were exercising their right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution in surreptitiously making the recordings. Read more...
Judge Strikes Down NC 20-Weeks Law
A federal judge has struck down North Carolina's long-standing ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, ruling that such an arbitrary timeline could deprive a woman of her constitutional right to end a pregnancy before her fetus could viably live on its own outside the womb. U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. immediately stayed his ruling for 60 days to give state lawmakers a chance to appeal his ruling or pass new legislation regarding abortions. Read more...
Pro-Lifers Attack New Huntsville Rule
Two pro-life advocates have filed a lawsuit against the city of Huntsville claiming a violation of their rights to free speech. Hannah Ford, from Personhood Alabama, said James and Carol Henderson have stood outside Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives for years to “legally advocated for life.” The couple applies for a special events permit every six months so that they may “sidewalk counsel” women seeking abortions outside the clinic, the lawsuit states. In 2017 new language was added to the permit restricting the volume levels the couple were allowed to engage in. Read More
Kentucky's 'Discrimination' Bill Challenged
The Kentucky Senate has voted to ban doctors from performing abortions if they believe the person seeking the procedure wants it because of the fetus' race, sex or a disability. The measure now heads to Gov. Matt Bevin for final approval. Within minutes of the bill's passage, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it would sue to block it. Gov. Bevin responded to the announcement on Twitter, saying "Bring it! Kentucky will always fight for life… Always!" Read More
High Court Sides With Catholic Bishops
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from an abortion clinic seeking access to records belonging to the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops concerning its pro-life deliberations. Whole Woman’s Health, a pro-choice health facility in Texas, had subpoenaed the bishops’ religious deliberations on abortion and any communications with government officials, after the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops offered to provide burials for aborted remains following a state law requiring hospitals to properly dispose of fetal tissue through cremation or burial rather than in a sewer or landfill. Read More
California Must Pay Pro-Life Legal Fees
A federal judge ordered the state of California to pay three pro-life pregnancy centers and a conservative law firm a total of $399,000 after a state law meant to force "crisis pregnancy centers" to promote abortion was struck down. The Supreme Court found the California law requiring pro-life centers to display information about how to obtain a state-funded abortion unconstitutional in June. Then in October, a federal district court issued a permanent injunction against the law in question, the Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act. Read More
Roberts Joins Libs in Pro-Abortion Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law that women's groups said would leave only a single doctor legally allowed to perform abortions in the state. By a 5-4 vote, the court said the restrictions must remain on hold while challengers appeal a lower court decision in favor of the law. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the court's liberal members. It was the Supreme Court's first significant action on the hot-button issue of abortion since Donald Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, replaced Anthony Kennedy, who generally voted with the court's liberals to uphold abortion rights. Read More