The passing of radical pro-abortion ballot initiatives has had a demoralizing effect on both the pro-life movement and those who support it. Ohio became the seventh state to either ratify abortion until birth or reject attempts to protect the state’s unborn babies.
It is also disconcerting that these far-left activists have their sights set on Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Arizona, Arkansas, and other “red” states.
However, advocates of the unborn are pushing back. Pro-abortion amendments face legal challenges.
Sixteen organizations and individuals have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Michigan’s governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
It charges Prop 3 with violating the Fourteenth Amendment because it prevents parents from exercising their right to bring up and protect their children from abortion.
Prop 3 violates the First Amendment rights of those who, on religious grounds, refuse to participate in abortion. It denies them the right of conscience and to exercise their religious beliefs.
Prop 3 violates the Fourteenth Amendment by withholding equal protection for women. Prop 3 states, “The state shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.”
If a hack abortionist severely maims a woman or if the errant procedure results in the woman’s lost fertility, the abortionist responsible is legally protected from prosecution. Women’s rights groups should be apoplectic over this denial of women’s rights.
Prop 3 violates the Fourteenth Amendment of unborn babies, particularly if they have a disability, newborn infants who survive a late-term abortion, and partially born infants who are victims of partial birth abortion. They all lose their right to life without due process of law.
Finally, Prop 3 violates the Guarantee Clause of the US Constitution, which ensures that citizens benefit from the legislative branch in a republican form of government which protects them against the oppression of the majority. Prop 3 prevents legislators from passing any pro-life laws.
In Nevada, District Court Judge James Russell has ruled against signature gathering pro-abortion advocates who endeavor to place an extreme petition on the ballot allowing abortion until birth. “It is clear to me this is probably the clearest case I have seen that I think there is a violation of the single subject rule.” He also called the petition a “misleading description” of its impact on Nevada citizens.
Planned Parenthood and the ACLU plan to appeal the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.
The Liberty Counsel that filed the Michigan lawsuit has similar litigation now before the Florida Supreme Court against pro-abortion efforts in the Sunshine State.
Arkansas’ attorney general has rejected the deceptive title of a proposed pro-abortion amendment. Attorneys general in Florida and South Dakota have warned far left organizations about their wording in extreme abortion ballot measures. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody called the amendment “one of the worst” she has seen.
These pro-abortion amendments facing legal challenges bring hope in the battle to defend life.
Defending all life,
Brad Mattes
President, Life Issues Institute
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