ADF chief recounts recent victories for life

By Alan Sears

Things are not going altogether according to plan for Planned Parenthood, thanks to your support for the tireless efforts of Alliance Defending Freedom staff and allied attorneys across the country to preserve women’s health and safety and protect life in the womb. In just the last few weeks alone, by His grace, we’ve seen a solid array of wins in this critical arena, in states like:

·         Alabama, where Planned Parenthood has challenged the state’s law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Planned Parenthood asked the judge to rule immediately in its favor. Instead, he ordered the case set for trial.

·         Arizona, where a federal court refused to place a hold on a state law requiring abortionists to dispense their life-ending drugs according to federal Food and Drug

Alan Sears

Administration rules. (The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit in San Francisco has now overridden the lower court’s decision and put the hold in place, pending review – but did not criticize the decision.)

·         Kansas, where Planned Parenthood pressed for two of their facilities to receive priority in state funding – but a federal court ruled that state law put public health departments and hospitals at the front of the funding line. Indeed, the court ruled, the state doesn’t have to fund Planned Parenthood facilities at all. (The decision is one in a groundswell of state efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, in wake of a Congressional investigation urged and assisted by ADF attorneys.)

“Planned Parenthood’s efforts to put their profits ahead of the safety of women and children continue to fail,” says ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “America’s largest abortion seller has not succeeded so far in its opposition to common-sense laws that put women’s health and well-being ahead of Planned Parenthood’s bottom line.”

But the greatest victory of all came in Colorado, where earlier this month the state senate was poised to pass Senate Bill 14-175, the noble-sounding “Reproductive Health Freedom Act.” The bill would have, in the words of our friend and ally Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, “essentially shut down any attempt to pass life-affirming legislation in Colorado ever again. More than that, it [would have enshrined] the ‘right to abortion’ into Colorado law.”

Specifically, the bill would have blocked required waiting periods for abortion, mandatory ultrasounds for expectant mothers, and restrictions on abortion pills for minors. It would have allowed girls of 10 or 11 to obtain abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

But the bill’s almost certain passage began to falter in the face of testimony from ADF Attorney Natalie Decker and others. Hesitations grew when more than 1,000 people showed up at the state capitol on Tuesday, April 15 to pray with Archbishop Aquila and then flooded the state capitol building to express their opposition to the bill.

Then, from Tuesday to Thursday, state senators were overwhelmed with calls and emails from constituents voicing their own opposition – many of whom showed up at the capitol in person again on Thursday. Senate leaders got the message, and in a procedural move, effectively killed the bill.

In the wake of the bill’s demise, people reported seeing Planned Parenthood lobbyists – the main force behind the bill – crying over their loss. We pray God would touch those same hearts to weep for the lives of children aborted in the womb.

Please join me in praying for that day to come soon – and even sooner, for the day when no children are aborted at all. And in the meantime, let us rejoice in these God-given victories, and give thanks for all those who continue to find the courage to speak out boldly, faithfully for the preservation of life. And thank you – for doing so much to make all of this possible.

Alan Sears is president, CEO, and general counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom