By Anne Reed
Operation Rescue Offers Free Resource to Accomplish More Wins!
As the pro-life community prays and works to change hearts, minds, and laws, gains are unmistakably occurring on a state level. Operation Rescue thanks our supporters for the prayers, dedication, and efforts employed to save the lives of innocent children.
Arizona Now Abortion Free
After the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday that the state’s 1864 statutory ban on abortion, blocked as a result of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, was “triggered” and reestablished by “Roe’s” demise. The opinion clarified that prior to Roe’s overturn, “the rights of the ‘unborn child’ were limited only by the federal Constitution and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of it.”
As a result, the near total ban takes precedence over the state’s previously enforced 15-week gestational ban. Abortion is now illegal in the state of Arizona except in cases of medical emergencies. In fact, the court’s Opinion clearly informed abortionists that their days of killing innocent human beings in the state of Arizona was all but over:
“In light of this Opinion, physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal.”
The law carries two to five years in prison for anyone who provides an abortion or the means for an abortion. It will be enforceable 14 days from the date the opinion was filed.
As a result, 15 states are now abortion free. See Operation Rescue’s Interactive Map.
Florida Newest of Three States Saving Lives with Heartbeat Laws
Along with those 15, three more states have passed heartbeat laws: Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida (effective May 1, 2024). These heartbeat laws make abortion illegal after a heartbeat is detectable by ultrasound – usually about six weeks. Since many women do not know they are pregnant within this time frame, heartbeat laws save a substantial number of innocent lives.
More than a third of U.S. states now protect innocent human life in most or all cases.
Maine’s Pro-Abortion Constitutional Amendment Fails
In addition, last week a ballot initiative designed to enshrine abortion in Maine’s constitution failed. The ballot proposal failed to garner the required two-thirds vote in the state Senate and will not, therefore, appear on the November ballot.
According to Operation Rescue’s most recent annual survey, Maine added a startling 17 abortion facilities in 2023, and the state currently allows for abortion up to 22 weeks gestation. Though this gestational limit is not affected by the failure of the ballot initiative, its defeat does save countless lives. When abortion is established as a state constitutional right, the ability to regulate abortion in ways that save innocent babies and protect mothers is severely weakened.
“Each of these victories represents saved innocent lives and is worthy of celebration,” Operation Rescue President Troy Newman
“As we go forward, we must be alert and conscious of the need to focus on what is important – innocent lives – while also exposing the abortion cartel’s dark underbelly. We are not ashamed of being against child sacrifice. We are anti-evil. We are anti-abortion,” emphasized Newman.
For more ways to put the abortion cartel on the defensive, take a look at Operation Rescue’s newly updated 21-page booklet, Refocusing the Pro-Life Movement for Victory.
