September 22, 2009 Planned Parenthood is pushing back - hard.
Outraged at a strong new Arizona law that protects women and preborn children, the nation's leading profiter from abortion has filed a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality. The Center for Reproductive Rights has filed a similar lawsuit at the federal level. Both suits ask that the courts strike down provisions of the law and grant a preliminary injunction to block them from taking effect, as scheduled, on September 30. Two Arizona legislators, along with doctors and numerous organizations, filed motions Monday through ADF attorneys to intervene to defend these cases.
Planned Parenthood has reason to worry. The law in question could have a far-reaching impact on abortion around the country and seriously cut into the organization's multi-million-dollar revenues. The Arizona law requires, among other things:
- That women visit a doctor 24 hours prior to having the child removed to hear all the medical implications of the "procedure"
- That parents provide notarized consent for their minor children to have an abortion, or alternatively a judge can review the request
- That abortions be performed only by physicians, and not nurse practitioners
- That doctors, pharmacists, and other medical professionals be allowed follow their consciences and not be forced to participate in abortions or in the prescription and preparation of abortion-inducing drugs.
Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, contends that such regulations - designed to promote informed decisions for women and provide legal protections for medical professionals - impose an "undue burden" on women. They say that the required doctor visit forces women to make two appointments (although every other kind of non-emergency invasive surgery requires more than one appointment), while allowing only doctors to perform abortions limits a woman's options.
In other words, after years of posing as the great defender of women's health, Planned Parenthood is now opposing laws that ensure strong medical care for pregnant women. Why? Because these laws will make a deep dent in the organization's income. At three of their five Arizona clinics, abortions are currently performed by nurse practitioners - so enforcement of the new laws could easily mean 20-40 percent less money in Planned Parenthood's coffers.
Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion advocacy groups make a lot of money advancing their agenda, and they won't surrender their profits without a fight. These two cases are almost certain to have a nation-shaping impact. Please be in special prayer for our attorneys and the many allied organizations standing with us in support of the sanctity of human life and the religious freedom of medical professionals to honor their conscience on this crucial issue.