By Liberty Counsel ——Bio and Archives--June 15, 2023
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ORLANDO, FL – As Americans prepare to celebrate the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey on June 24, 2022, where abortion decisions enshrined the killing of unborn babies, many states across the nation that had waited for this historic time are now enacting laws to protect life in the womb.
Due to Roe,
for nearly 50 years states could not regulate abortion in the first
trimester of pregnancy (first 12 weeks). In the second trimester, states
could only provide limited restrictions. It was only in the third
trimester that states could enact a total ban. Statistics show that 88 percent of abortions occur in that first trimester. According to analysis
by the National Right to Life Committee, more than 63 million unborn
babies are estimated to have lost their lives since 1973 while states
were “legally” blocked from defending them.
Unborn children now have the law back on their side. At least 11 states had near-total abortion bans ready to go as “trigger” laws designed to take effect after the impediment of Roe was removed (Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota,Tennessee, Texas, and Utah). Additionally, Arizona, Indiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming either had pre-Roe abortion bans or have recently enacted them. However, along with Utah, those state laws are not yet in effect while legal challenges to those laws are adjudicated in the courts.
Now that Roe has been overturned, at least 30 protective measures have been enacted protecting unborn life at various stages of pregnancy. Included in these measures are six “fetal heartbeat” laws that ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy when a baby’s heartbeat is typically detectable (Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina). These laws are only in effect in Georgia and Mississippi while the laws in the other four states undergo legal challenges.
Notably, in Florida, a “fetal heartbeat” law was signed into law in April 2023 and is intended to go into effect following a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court on a case considering the legality of the state’s 15-week abortion ban. If the 15-week abortion ban is upheld, the six-week ban will go into effect 30 days later.
Liberty Counsel Action filed an amicus brief to the Florida Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, et al., v. State of Florida, et al., requesting that the In re T.W. decision issued by an activist court in 1989 be overturned and the original intent of Article I, Section 23 be restored so as not to recognize a right to kill preborn children by abortion. Before the Florida Supreme Court is a 15-week abortion ban passed by the legislature in 2022. Like the 15-week abortion ban that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Florida case could follow a similar result.
Other states, such as Idaho, Texas, and Wyoming are enacting unique measures to protect unborn children. In addition to its near-total ban, Idaho became the first state to ban abortion trafficking making it a felony for any adult who helps a minor undergo an abortion in another state without parental consent. In Texas, lawmakers made performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to life in prison. And Wyoming, in addition to a near-total ban, recently became the first state to enact a law specifically banning chemical abortions via the abortion pill.
The abortion landscape in the U.S. is changing quickly since the High Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The stand to protect unborn life currently includes:
Currently, there are seven states with no abortion restrictions whatsoever (Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont).
According to Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America, an estimated 60,000 lives have been saved in the last year as a result of these laws. Data shows there were more than 32,000 fewer abortions on average across the nation in the first six months after the ruling. That number translates to an average of 5,377 fewer abortions monthly. In the 13 states with current abortion bans, the data revealed they had “a cumulative total of 43,410 fewer people who had abortions,” and “a monthly average of 7,235 fewer abortions after the Dobbs decision as compared to pre-Dobbs.”Support Canada Free Press
In declaring legalized abortion is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court cited Liberty Counsel’s amicus brief stating abortion violates the right to life and supports racist eugenics. The High Court noted that the brief argues that the roots of abortion are “motivated by a desire to suppress the size of the African American population.” The opinion continues, “And it is beyond dispute that Roe had had that demographic effect. A highly disproportional percentage of aborted fetuses are black.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “We continue to celebrate the immense victory of the High Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The carnage and deaths of more than 63 million children lost because of Roe will forever be a stain on our nation. But the news of these pro-life laws and their impact on saving babies in the womb is hopeful and bright. We are seeing the fruit of a historic and righteous High Court decision. It is time for all states and courts around the nation to follow suit and make the womb a safe place again.”
For more information about state laws protecting unborn life, visit Liberty Counsel’s website here.
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Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.