LIFE DIGEST: Arizona abortions fall by nearly one-third
- Oct 18, 2011 -
Abortions in Arizona dropped by nearly one-third in September after a pro-life law went into effect.
The state reported there were 729 abortions in Arizona during September — a decline of almost 31 percent from September 2010, nearly 32 percent from August of this year and 39 percent from the monthly average for the last year, the Associated Press reported Oct. 12.
Also in this edition: Nearly 230 unborn babies saved midway into 40 Days campaign, Chinese woman dies of forced abortion at six months, and Partial-birth abortion ban enacted in Michigan.
The decrease in abortions came after the Arizona Court of Appeals unanimously upheld in August a 2009 state law that places limitations on abortion services. The Abortion Consent Act mandates only doctors perform abortions; requires women to receive full information 24 hours beforehand on abortion, its risks, fetal development and alternatives to the procedure; mandates parental consent for minors, and protects freedom of conscience for pro-life, health-care workers.
Even a strong advocate for the new law was surprised by the difference in the number of abortions.
“I don’t know that I ever expected abortion numbers to drop, so I kind of feel like, ‘O ye of little faith,’” said Cathi Herrod, executive director of the Center for Arizona Policy, according to CitizenLink.com. She said her organization is “very encouraged.”
“This shows the critical need for pregnancy care centers,” she said. “As abortion drops, it’s a tremendous opportunity for pregnancy centers to step into the breach and really help these women in the community.” After the court’s ruling, the Arizona affiliate of Planned Parenthood announced its clinics in Flagstaff, Prescott Valley and Yuma would stop providing abortions by means of the drug RU 486. The clinics did not perform surgical abortions.
Nearly 230 unborn babies saved midway into 40 Days campaign
The 40 Days for Life campaign had received reports of 229 unborn children saved Oct. 17, the halfway point of this fall’s effort.
The campaign focuses on peaceful, pro-life prayer vigils outside abortion clinics.
The 40 Days team at a Cherry Hill, N.J., abortion clinic reported nine women had changed their minds about aborting their children since the vigil began Sept. 28.
This fall’s 40-day campaign includes outreaches at 301 sites, the most in the effort’s history. Of those, 133 are at Planned Parenthood clinics, according to 40 Days staff. Planned Parenthood’s affiliates performed more than 332,000 abortions in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
The semi-annual, 40 Days campaigns consist of 40 days of prayer and fasting to end abortion, as well as community outreach and the prayer vigils outside clinics. The effort, which began in Texas in 2004 and went national in 2007, has received reports of more than 4,500 unborn lives saved from abortion as a result of its campaigns. In addition, more than 50 abortion clinic workers reportedly have quit and 14 abortion centers have closed following outreaches at clinics.
Chinese woman dies of forced abortion at six months
A Chinese woman who was six months pregnant died while undergoing a forced abortion Oct. 12, according to U.S. human rights organizations relying on an online report.
More than 10 family planning officials took Jihong Ma by force from her home in Shandong Province to a hospital, according to the report. The authorities interrupted her oxygen therapy to take Jihong from her home. After she was placed in an operating room, her dead body was discovered by family members six hours later.
Jihong and her husband had violated China’s population-control policy, according to the Internet report. Their daughter does not know her mother has passed away. “She cries looking for Mom everyday,” the report said.
Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, said in a written statement, “Our hearts go out to the family of Jihong Ma. . . . China’s cruel and barbaric forced abortion policy causes more violence towards women and girls than any other official policy on earth.”
China’s three-decade-old, population-control program – known as the one-child policy – has produced, and continues to produce, widespread forced abortion and sterilization, as well as infanticide.
The policy generally limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Parents in cities may have second babies if the husband and wife are both only children.
Partial-birth abortion ban enacted in Michigan
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, signed a ban on partial-birth abortion into law Oct. 11, according to The Holland (Mich.) Sentinel.
The measure, which provides an exception if the mother’s life is endangered, prohibits a gruesome method of abortion that normally involves an intact baby being delivered feet first until only the head is left in the birth canal. The doctor pierces the base of the infant’s skull with surgical scissors before inserting a catheter into the opening and suctioning out the brain, killing the baby. The technique, which normally is performed in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy, provides for easier removal of the baby’s head.
In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on partial-birth abortion.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. Our free, downloadable Impact resource is also available online. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
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