After most of a Missouri pro-life law was blocked, American abortion giant, Planned Parenthood, has said it will continue to fight that portion of the legislation prohibiting abortions based on race, sex or an in utero diagnosis of Down’s syndrome.
Dr Colleen McNicholas, a chief medical officer with the organisation, said, “Every reason to have an abortion is a valid reason.”
The Missouri ‘Stands for the Unborn Act’, was set to come into force on Wednesday (28/08), but has been temporarily blocked by US District Judge Howard Sachs. Had the law come into effect, it would permit abortion only in medical emergencies after 8 weeks gestation.
Republican Governor Mike Parson said it would allow Missouri to become “one of the strongest pro-life states in the country”.
Mr Sachs said it was not to be enforced, “pending litigation or further order of the court”.
“While federal courts should generally be very cautious before delaying the effect of State laws, the sense of caution may be mitigated when the legislation seems designed, as here, as a protest against Supreme Court decisions,” he said
The Judge’s decision came after Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Missouri. They argued the law was unconstitutional because of its apparent conflict with the Roe vs Wade (1973) Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal across the United States.
However, the judge did permit that portion of the legislation to take effect which prohibits abortion “solely because of a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening indicating Down Syndrome or the potential of Down Syndrome in an unborn child, or because of the sex or race of the unborn child.”
Planned Parenthood have made clear their intention to fight this portion of the legislation too. They want abortion on the basis of the sex of the unborn child as well as his/her race to be legally permitted.
Dr McNicholas, who works for Planned Parenthood, said “Every reason to have an abortion is a valid reason,”
Planned Parenthood is the USA’s largest abortion provider, performing 332,757 abortions in 2018.
In anticipation of a possible legal challenge to Roe vs Wade, a number of states including , Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, have introduced strong pro-life legislation which protects unborn life throughout all nine months of pregnancy or from an early gestational age.
At the same time other states such as New York, Nevada, Illinois and Vermont, have introduced their own extreme abortion laws which offer nearly unrestricted access to abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Due to recent additions to the Supreme Court, many pro-lifers are hopeful that the Court now has enough pro-life judges that, if Roe vs Wade were challenged, there is a reasonable chance that it might be overturned.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson said:
“Planned Parenthood are openly advocating for sexist and racist abortions. They want it to be legal to end the life of an unborn child because that child is not the desired sex or race.”
“As shocking as this is, the abortion regime soon to be imposed on Northern Ireland (unless Stormont can reconvene) will permit abortion on the basis of sex or race up until 28 weeks (7 months) gestation, which is well past the point of viability.”
