U.S. Abortion Policy at Tipping Point 49 Years Post-Roe

“Full of fresh hope” best describes the pro-life movement in the U.S. 49 years after abortion was imposed by the Supreme Court. As a new Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the state of Mississippi’s law to prohibit elective abortion after 15 weeks and states have enacted more restrictions in 2021 than at any time since the Court’s decision there is expectation that the extreme abortion policy of the U.S. will be amended to allow states to determine laws on abortion. 

 

In an opinion editorial published on the day of the March for Life, Rep Chris Smith, Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and in remarks to the tens of thousands of marchers stated:  

 

“Today, after decades of noble struggle and sacrifice, pro-life Americans are hopeful that government-sanctioned violence against children and the exploitation of women by abortion is nearing an end — although, in a very real way, the struggle to defend innocent human life now enters a critically important new phase. 

 

“The federal government and the states may soon have new authority to protect. 

“Protection for unborn children is at the tipping point.” 

 

Smith said, “By at least affirming the constitutionality of Mississippi’s law to prohibit elective abortion after 15 weeks—the Supreme Court may finally take a powerful step towards inclusion, respect and justice for the weakest and most vulnerable nearly fifty years after Roe. 

 

“In 1973, the Supreme Court abandoned women and babies to the multi-billion-dollar abortion industry, and almost 63.5 million unborn children have been killed — a staggering loss of children’s lives that is more than the entire population of Italy. 

 

“In 2022, the Supreme Court can begin dismantling the culture of death it has imposed on America.” 

 

Rep Smith warned that “a radically different, almost unrecognizable Mr. Biden has weaponized the entire federal bureaucracy to aggressively promote abortion on demand at home and overseas, including a full-court press to force taxpayers to fund abortion on demand — including repeal of the Hyde Amendment.”

 

Pro-abortion organizations are worried. The Center for Reproductive Rights emailed supporters stating that Roe vs Wade is “hanging by a thread”. If the Supreme Court overturns or modifies the abortion decision, it is expected that 26 states would ban the killing of unborn babies in abortion according to pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. 21 states have current laws that would be enacted to ban abortion and another 5 states have a pro-life legislature that would act quickly to protect unborn children.    

 

Guttmacher states that it is “important to remember that Roe would not have to be overturned entirely to start the process of activating some trigger laws. If the Court weakens or undermines existing federal constitutional protections, that may be enough momentum for states to start implementing these bans.” 

New Virginia Governor Creates Ambassador for Unborn Children

Newly-elected Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has created an “ambassador for unborn children” in his administration. In an executive order, Gov. Youngkin added the position to the duties of the Chief Diversity, Opportunity & Inclusion Officer. Specifically, the diversity officer will promote “ideas, policies and practices to eliminate disparities in pre-natal care, and be an ambassador for unborn children.” The governor’s office said it tailored this position to create “a stronger and more focused role on promoting ideas, policies and economic opportunities for disadvantaged Virginians,” including the unborn and disabled. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem created a similar position, that of "Unborn Child Advocate", when she took office.  

Pres. Biden Pledges to Defend Abortion but Cannot Say the Word

The White House released a statement on the 49^th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision expressing the support of President Biden and Vice President Harris for the Court action which has led to the deaths of 63.5 million unborn children in the United States. Biden and Harris declare: “It is a right we believe should be codified into law, and we pledge to defend it with every tool we possess.” 

 

The 295-word statement fails to include the word “abortion” instead abortion is referred to as “it”, “a constitutional right”, or “reproductive health care”. The statement expresses Biden-Harris’ opposition to state laws against abortion lamenting that the number of state legislative actions to protect unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion are increasing “at an alarming rate”.

 

Biden-Harris equate access to abortion with the “progress of a nation” stating that “the continued defense of this constitutional right is essential to our health, safety, and progress as a nation”. The statement concludes, “At this pivotal moment, we recommit to strengthening access to critical reproductive health care, defending the constitutional right established by Roe, and protecting the freedom of all people to build their own future.”

 

However, because of the actions and policies of Biden-Harris not “all people” will not be able to “build their own future”—not all people will have a future. Millions of unborn children in the U.S. and around the world will be denied life, freedom and a future because of their actions.

 

Pro-abortion activists were not completely happy with the Biden-Harris statement. The pro-abortion counter “Did Biden Say Abortion Yet” notes that the White House statement did not use the word abortion and that it rarely appears in any Biden statement. The group’s message to the President, “Say the word abortion, Joe!”

 

Likewise, the president and CEO of Ipas and the president of Global Justice Center, wrote in an opinion article: “We also can’t ignore the president and his administration’s refusal to say the word ‘abortion.’ This is no small matter. Not using the word fuels stigma about abortion, and the president can’t credibly claim to be a champion of sexual and reproductive rights if he can’t even name a core sexual and reproductive right.”

 

Read more here.

Biden-Harris Highlight Abortion Policies in First Year

On the one year anniversary of President Biden’s inauguration, the Biden White House issued a statement claiming the “Administration moved quickly to deliver results for working families and “has kept women and families at the center of our agenda”.

 

Tragically, this includes keeping the destruction of the most defenseless members of the family at the center of the Biden-Harris agenda. 

 

The agenda includes “the first-ever national gender strategy” which claims “to advance gender equity and equality” but instead advances prenatal reproductive injustice. The strategy declares a commitment to “protect the constitutional right to safe and legal abortion established in Roe v. Wade in the United States, while promoting access to sexual and reproductive health and rights both at home and abroad”. 

 

Other Biden actions in support of abortion were highlighted in the statement: “The Biden-Harris Administration has also taken critical steps to advance access to comprehensive health care, including reproductive health care, and defend reproductive rights across the country. President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care and revoked President Trump’s Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy, an expansion of President Reagan’s Mexico City Policy and directed the Administrator of USAID and all United States Government foreign assistance programs “to ensure that adequate funds are being directed to support women’s health needs globally, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.” 

 

The Biden White House also celebrated the removal of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of tax payer dollars for abortion from the Biden’s FY 2022 budget. Biden-Harris praised their own actions to advance abortion around the world by highlighting the U.S. commitments “to protect and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights” that Vice President Harris announced at the United Nations Generation Equality Forum. 

 

Biden Administration Launches Abortion Task Force

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Biden has launched an abortion task force operating both domestically and internationally with the primary goal “to protect and bolster sexual and reproductive health” including abortion. 

 

FACT SHEET: HHS Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force laments that over “the past decade, there has been an unprecedented number of laws enacted, regulations promulgated, and policies adopted that undermine access to sexual and reproductive health care services in the U.S. and globally… Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s decisions in three reproductive health care cases this term could both impact the right to abortion and have a chilling effect on the provision of other essential reproductive health services.” 

 

According to HHS Secretary Becerra, the Task Force will “coordinate activities across the Department to protect and bolster access to essential sexual and reproductive health care, including implementation of activities identified in the White House National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality - PDF.” 

 

The Biden-Harris National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality seeks to “protect the constitutional right to safe and legal abortion established in Roe v. Wade in the United States, while promoting access to sexual and reproductive health and rights both at home and abroad.”  

 

Secretary Beccera also said that the Abortion Task Force is needed because “more state abortion restrictions were passed in 2021 than any other year since Roe v. Wade was decided” and because a record number of states have prevented Planned Parenthood from participating in their Medicaid programs. 

 

The Task Force will further advance the new Biden Title X rule regarding family planning programs to ensure abortion entities like Planned Parenthood are not excluded and will oversee the “$6.6 million in funding through Title X to address demands for family planning services where restrictive laws have impacted reproductive health access”, in plain terms where the killing of unborn babies has been prevented. 

 

The co-chairs of this coordinating body are HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, MD and HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace. Assistant Secretary Levine, who transitioned to a woman in 2011 and previously opposed religious exemptions to the HHS contraceptive mandate that were granted to the Little Sisters of the Poor calling the exemptions “immoral and unethical”, stated: “Across America, we must protect access to sexual and reproductive health.” 

 

HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace, former executive director of pro-abortion Global Health Council stated, “Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights is central to our core global health goals, including our focus on addressing health inequities and expanding access to universal health coverage.” She continued, “In order to build back better in the U.S. and around the world, we must ensure that all people can access high quality health care, including sexual and reproductive health care services.” 

 

Each agency in HHS is directed “to prepare a plan outlining measurable actions the agency is considering or will take to protect and bolster access to sexual and reproductive health care.” The list of possible actions include: "Identifying and eliminating any existing policies or barriers within Federal programs and services; Partnering with bilateral and multilateral partners to support evidence-based guidance and policy that bolster access to sexual and reproductive healthcare globally; and Supporting efforts to mitigate the persistent stigmatization of reproductive health care as separate and distinct from other essential primary care services."

Biden’s Summit for Democracy Includes Push for Abortion

President Biden hosted the first Summit for Democracy which the White House reported brought together “leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.”

 

Representatives from 100 select countries were invited to participate in “the defense of democracy” meeting. Selectively excluded were the pro-life countries Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras whose citizens comprise a large number of those seeking to cross the U.S. southern border for a better life in the U.S. Countries that are truly in need of assistance to strengthen and secure democracy for their citizens.

 

There is speculation that pro-life laws and policies were a reason why democratic pro-life Guatemala was not asked to attend the Summit, especially since President Alejandro Giammattei was already visiting Washington, D.C. Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles and former head of the U.S. Citizenship Office, told El American: “I have no doubt that one of the reasons Guatemala was excluded from the Summit is because of the country’s government defense of the right to life. The Biden administration is aggressively promoting abortion in the region and is upset that there are countries that oppose its agenda of cultural imperialism.”

 

The state department press release, "The Summit for Democracy: Advancing Gender Equity and Equality for Representative Societies”, stated that the “Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) is leading the Department of State’s efforts to advance gender equity and equality, one of the goals of the Summit. The Biden National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality includes promoting access to abortion in the U.S. and around the world. It states that the U.S. will “defend the constitutional right to safe and legal abortion in the United States, established in Roe v. Wade, and promote access to sexual and reproductive health and rights both at home and abroad.” 

 

Read more here.

 

Democracy Called “An Empty Promise” without Abortion

On the sidelines of the Summit for Democracy, the Embassy of Canada to the U.S. and pro-abortion NGOs hosted a discussion which claimed legal access to abortion is necessary for democracy and attacked U.S. policies that prevent U.S. foreign aid from being used for abortion. The event, Democracy without Sexual and Reproductive Rights is An Empty Promise, was co-hosted by pro-abortion activists from Fòs Feminista and Global Justice Center.  

 

The discussion was described as focusing “on the importance of reproductive rights to democracy, the relationship between authoritarianism and control of bodily autonomy, and the impact of US abortion policies that run counter to free speech and democracy globally, including policies like the Helms and Siljander amendments and the Global Gag Rule. The event will also discuss and propose ways for the United States to realize its commitment as a champion for sexual and reproductive health and rights at home and abroad.” 

 

FOS Feminista is the new name for International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region (IPPFWHR) joined by the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) and the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) in a “new platform for international action and feminist solidarity focused on women, girls, and gender-diverse people” across the Global South. 

EP to Vote on Making Abortion a Priority in Official Development Aid

Two committees of the European Parliament voted to tell the EU that it should “make sexual and reproductive health and rights a priority” in external funding programs in the name of equality. The committees approved the report on the EU’s Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) by a vote of 48 in favor, 5 against, and 7 abstentions.  

 

In approving the GAP III report, the MEPs call for “universal access to sexual education, contraception and safe and legal abortion” with the report stating that abortion “is not a religious, political or ideological issue but a public health concern.” 

 

MEPs expressed concern that “a backlash against women’s rights and gender equality is undermining access to SRHR inside and outside the European Union” with an emphasis that “legislative rollbacks on abortion undermine the protection of women’s health, rights and dignity.” The report states that the “EU should be a leading example worldwide in terms of promoting SRHR and call on member states to ensure universal access to SRHR in their territories.” 

 

The report targets opposition to abortion, especially faith-based organizations stating that the MEPs express “concern at the rise of conservative rhetoric and organised religious and other groupings, which is threatening to undermine sexual and reproductive rights inside and outside the Union.”  

 

The MEPs also seek funding for pro-abortion NGOs who they state are “fighting for the right of individuals to freedom of decision regarding their own bodies.” The rationale for the call for NGO funding is that “a number of governments in Europe and elsewhere have sought to capitalise on the COVID19 crisis to restrict access to safe and legal abortion, contraception and sex education.” 

 

The report is to be voted on by all MEPs in the European Parliament plenary session currently planned for March 7-10, 2022. 

Macron Seeks Abortion as an EU Fundamental Right

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for abortion to be added to the European Union's charter of fundamental rights as he begins his six-month presidency of the European Union. During a speech to Members of the European Parliament, Macron said that the rights charter needed to be revised stating, “We must update this charter to be more explicit on the recognition of the right to abortion…Let us open up this debate freely with our fellow citizens ... to breathe new life into the pillar of law that forges this Europe of strong values.” 

 

The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe was quick to respond with an open letter to Macron from its president and past president asking “Are we still free to protect life?” The two leaders write, “The recognition of an alleged right to abortion would moreover be in flagrant contradiction to the Charter itself, which enshrines in its first two articles the inviolability of human dignity and the right to life.” 

 

They implore Macron, “As you said in your statement, democracy, progress, and peace are all ‘under threat’. The first and greatest threat is the killing of the unborn. If, as you said, democracy was born in Europe and has been given new lives over the last seventy years, do we not owe the same to the children who will participate in and make that democracy possible?” 

 

Response was also swift from the Bioethics Observatory of the San Vicente Mártir Catholic University of Valencia as Julio Tudela Cuenca wrote, “This supposed 'progress of democracy' is a terrible setback for everyone, especially for the weakest.” 

 

He said, “The Charter of Fundamental Rights that Macron invokes, recognizes the right to life as the main one, and it is mainly this right that is violated when it is submitted to the presumed right to end the life of the human embryo , innocent and defenseless, by allowing millions of embryos and fetuses to be exterminated.” 

 

The European Charter of Fundamental Rights :

Article 1: Human dignity- Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.

 

Article 2: Right to Life-1. Everyone has the right to life. 2. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed.

New President of European Parliament Abandons Pro-Life Stand

The European Parliament elected its new president, Roberta Metsola from Malta, who had a voting position in favor of life which she abandoned soon after being elected president claiming she needed to represent the Parliament’s majority view.  

 

She is quoted as saying, “The position of the parliament is unambiguous and unequivocal, and that is also my position. That is exactly what I will do throughout my mandate as president on this issue.” 

 

In one of her first acts of President of the European Parliament, Metsola signed a pact that guarantees access to abortion to women in Europe. The Simone Veil Pact named for the French politician who made abortion legal in France in 1975, was proposed by the political group Renew Europe. 

 

The first point in the Pact states: “Sexual and reproductive rights: Guarantee women’s access to contraception and abortion, as well as to information and education.” 

Abortion Cases Influencing Human Rights Bodies

A new report by pro-abortion legal activists at the Center for Reproductive Rights maps for the first time six cases the organization brought before international and regional human rights bodies that have in the organization’s words “established lasting legal protections for reproductive autonomy—not only in the countries where the decisions were rendered, but across borders and regions.” Five of the cases involve abortion. 

 

The report, “Across Borders: How International and Regional Reproductive Rights Cases Influence Jurisprudence Worldwide,” includes five abortion cases that the Center filed before either the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the European Court of Human Rights, or the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. The impacts of the cases are mapped showing the reach beyond the specific country, court, or human rights body where the case was decided. 

UNFPA Strategic Plan to Advance Abortion

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its Strategic Plan 2022-2025 stating that it “reflects a changing world” and offers “a vision of how UNFPA will lead the way forward in addressing equality, equity and non-discrimination, empowerment of women and girls, and the pursuit of the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights.” 

 

It laments, “The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic negatively affected women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, and, in many cases, reversed much of the progress made in recent decades.” The Strategic Plan, “calls upon United Nations Member States, organizations and individuals to ‘build forward better’ while emerging from the pandemic, recover the gains lost, and accelerate progress.” 

 

UNFPA “invites stakeholders worldwide to join UNFPA on its journey to achieve access to sexual and reproductive health for all, realise reproductive rights and accelerate the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).” 

 

Parliamentarians are told they “can mobilize political will, funding and accountability – enacting laws and fostering understanding.” 

 

Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director writes, “The strategic plan is a call to action. It calls for tackling harmful gender norms and inequalities, investing in young people and protecting the bodily autonomy of women and girls.” 

Ireland: Dáil Blocks Fetal Pain Relief Bill

The Irish parliament, the Dáil, has tabled a fetal pain relief bill, blocking it from advancing. The Fetal Pain Relief Bill would have required pain relief administered in abortions on babies beginning at 20 weeks gestation: “...the medical practitioner who is to carry out the termination of pregnancy shall administer or cause to be administered to the foetus an appropriate anaesthetic or analgesic so as to prevent or relieve as far as practicable any pain being caused to the foetus during or arising from the termination of pregnancy.” Scientific studies have long shown that unborn babies do experience pain, with recent studies indicating it as early as 12 or 13 weeks.  

 

Ahead of the vote, Pro Life Campaign in Ireland indicated strong support for the bill among medical community, “over 100 healthcare professionals, including 35 doctors and over 40 nurses, has urged TDs to vote in favour of progressing the Foetal Pain Relief Bill 2021 to committee…” The group strongly criticized the Dáil’s decision to block the bill, noting the irony that on that same day the parliament was discussing legislation on animal pain relief. “It is an affront to human dignity that in Ireland today animals have more rights than unborn babies. The Animal Health and Welfare Act of 2013 ensures that animals are given pain relief before procedures are carried out that could cause them any pain or distress. The very least we can do is provide the same for unborn babies before late-term abortions,” said group spokesperson Eilís Mulroy. 

 

Speaking in the Dáil, Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly claimed the issue of fetal pain relief should be addressed in the ongoing government review that is analyzing abortion services in Ireland since legalization. “What we need to do now is allow the review to be completed. We need to allow for its recommendations to be considered,” said Donnelly. 

NI: MPs Oppose UK Push for More Abortion Services

Pressure from the Government in Westminster is mounting to make abortion more accessible in Northern Ireland. Abortion was imposed on Northern Ireland by the UK government in 2020, despite it being a devolved issue and traditionally under the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.  

 

Pro-life MPs have argued against it, claiming the very basis of the legislation was flawed. DUP MP Carla Lockhart said: “Both the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 and the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 were passed despite the overwhelming majority of MPs representing Northern Ireland who take their seats in Westminster voting against the regulations on both occasions, despite the overwhelming majority of respondents to the consultation on the legislation being opposed to its imposition in Northern Ireland and despite the Assembly being back up and running prior to those regulations becoming law”. The UK government is giving Northern Ireland’s Department of Health until March 2022 to ensure abortion is available throughout the region. 

NI: Parliament Fails to Protect Disabled Babies from Abortion

MPs in Northern Ireland failed to pass a bill to protect handicapped unborn babies from abortion. The legislation, the Severe Fetal Impairment (Amendment) Bill, would have prohibited abortions in cases of non-fatal disabilities. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said the bill sought to remove discrimination against persons with disabilities. "The bill would have made it illegal to abort a baby right up to birth (40+ weeks) for disabilities such as Down's syndrome, club foot or cleft lip," said DUP MLA Christopher Stalford. "That MLAs rejected this, is deeply worrying and sends an awful message about the value the Northern Ireland Assembly places on the life of an unborn disabled child." MLAs rejected the bill in a vote of 45 to 42. The DUP vowed it will continue to protect the right to life.  

Uruguay: Euthanasia Bills Come Before Parliament

The parliament in Uruguay is considering two bills to legalize euthanasia. The first bill, was introduced in 2020 by Partido Colorado, Ope Pasquet. The second is sponsored by the Broad Front (FA). One of the sponsors, Enrique Gallo explained the bills had different approaches: “the discrepancy with Pasquet’s bill lies in the fact that it focuses on freeing the doctor from taking responsibility, whereas the Broad Front considers that it should be a human being’s fundamental right in certain circumstances.” The Broad Front bill would permit euthanasia in cases of terminal untreatable diseases where there is severe suffering, and the patient must make the request it twice with a ten day wait in between. Sponsors say the two bills will ultimately merge.   

France: Parliament Votes to Expand Abortion Access

The French National Assembly voted to extend the limit on abortions from 12 to 14 weeks. The new bill will permit midwives to perform abortions and removed the 48-hour waiting period after counseling and before an abortion. The bill text removed conscience protections for doctors, a provision that doctors lobbied to keep in law. Professor Israel Nisand, former president of the National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians criticized the bill saying that, “The later an abortion is, the more dangerous it is and the more it is psychologically difficult for the women who resort to it.” Professor Nisand explained, “Let us not forget that extending the period for abortion is a nightmare for doctors who have to perform an abortion. At 16 weeks of amenorrhea, or at 14 weeks gestation, the fetus measures approximately 120 millimeters, its head is ossified. To get it out, you have to dismember the fetus and crush its head. It’s unbearable for a lot of professionals.” Nevertheless, Professor Nisand strongly supports abortion. The bill now awaits consideration in the Senate. 

Austria: Parliament Approves Assisted Suicide

The Austrian parliament approved a bill to legalize euthanasia. The Assisted Suicide Act will allow terminally ill patients to request euthanasia through an advanced directive, which would need to be decided by two doctors, and performed after a period of 12 weeks. The legislation was a reaction to a Constitutional Court decision ruling Austria’s law banning assisted suicide, in which judges claimed the law violated the individual’s right to self-determination. Justice Minister Alma Zadic said that other policies would be taken to offer alternatives to suicide.  

Israel: Minister Plans to Liberalize Abortion Law

Israel’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz has announced plans to make abortions more accessible. Minister Horowitz called Israel’s current law “chauvinistic”. The law currently requiring committee approval for abortions and restricts it to cases of the mother’s physical or mental health, fetal anomaly, rape or incest, if the woman is unmarried, under 18, or over 40 years old. Legislation to permit abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is expected to be introduced in the Knesset.  

New Hampshire: New Law Protects Babies from Late Term Abortions

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed into law the Family Life Protection Act, banning abortions after 24 weeks. The new law, which went into effect January 1st, also requires an ultrasound before abortion and would punish doctors found in violation with up to seven years in jail. “There’s a lot of us in New Hampshire who believe that an unborn child is a person, and we have been working for those people’s human rights for a long time,” said Jason Hennessey, president of New Hampshire Right to Life. 

Ohio: Governor Signs Born-Alive Infant Protection Act into Law

Governor Mike DeWine has signed into law legislation protecting babies who survive an abortion. The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, Senate Bill 157, would require healthcare personnel to provide lifesaving care to babies who survive an abortion and penalizes doctors who fail to. The bill also bans abortion providers from working with a state funded college or university. “Ohio is a pro-life state. Senate Bill 157 is another step in our continued commitment to uphold the sanctity of human life,” said bill sponsor Sen. Stephen Huffman.  

Germany: Court Rules in Favor of Pro-Life Prayer Vigils

A German court has ruled against a German city’s restrictions limiting a pro-life prayer vigil outside a pre-abortion advisory center. The court said that limits to when and where the 40 Days for Life prayer group could meet violated their right to free assembly. Felix Böllmann, legal counsel for ADF International, welcomed the ruling: “We welcome the court’s ruling in Frankfurt which protects the fundamental freedoms of speech, expression, and assembly. The people making an effort to protect the right to life should not have been prohibited from peacefully exercising these freedoms in the first place.” Böllmann expressed hope that it would set an example for similar cases. 

Colombia: Court in Deadlock on Abortion Vote

Judges in Colombia’s Constitutional Court failed to decide whether abortion should be legalized in the country when their vote ended in a 4-4 tie. The Court is hearing two lawsuits to remove abortion from the penal code that claim the law is leading to unsafe abortions and that it is discriminatory for punishing women who get an abortion. The push comes from Causa Justa (Just Cause), a coalition of over 200 pro-abortion organizations, health care providers, and academics partnered with the Center for Reproductive Rights. Colombia’s court traditionally has nine justices, however, one recused himself from the case due to possible impartiality having spoken to the press. Two associate judges appointed by the court will cast the tie-breaking vote at a date yet to be determined.