Pro-Abortion Groups Fighting to Strike Down Arizona’s 15-Week Ban, Other Pro-Life Laws in Court

The ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit last month to strike down the state’s law generally protecting women and unborn children from abortion after the fifteenth week of pregnancy.

The lawsuit underscores how pro-abortion groups are changing strategies and working incrementally to pass pro-abortion legislation and overturn state pro-life laws.

In November, pro-lifers saw three big wins and two big losses on election night. Voters defeated pro-abortion measures in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Florida, but pro-lifers lost in Missouri and Arizona.

The loss in Arizona paved the way for the ACLU to challenge Arizona’s restrictions on abortion.

In 2022 lawmakers in Arizona passed a measure prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks. The law contained exceptions for medical emergencies — including to save the life of the mother.

Data from the CDC and the Arizona Department of Health Services shows that in spite of the state’s law, there were 11,530 abortions in Arizona in 2022 and 12,888 in 2023. Most of those abortions were performed electively on healthy women carrying healthy, unborn babies.

Even though Arizona’s law allowed thousands of elective abortions, the ACLU of Arizona and other pro-abortion groups called the law “dangerous,” and campaigned for Arizona voters to enshrine “the fundamental right to abortion” in the state’s constitution.

That’s what happened when Arizona voters passed an abortion amendment in November.

In December the ACLU filed a lawsuit to strike down Arizona’s 15-week abortion law under that amendment.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU went so far as to say, “Since the [15-week] Ban took effect in 2022, it has had devastating consequences across the state—forcing many Arizonans to carry pregnancies to term and give birth against their will.”

That’s a bold claim, given how many unborn children were aborted in Arizona over the past two years.

Pro-abortion groups are using similar language and strategies in other states.

In November, Planned Parenthood filed a sweeping lawsuit challenging virtually all of Missouri’s good, pro-life laws — including basic health and safety restrictions on abortion. Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit claimed, “If left in place, the [abortion] restrictions will continue to be catastrophic for Missourians. They will either prevent care [abortion] altogether or severely delay or interfere with care [abortion].”

It’s very telling that pro-abortion groups believe it’s “dangerous” to restrict abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy — or that informed-consent requirements and other basic abortion restrictions are “catastrophic.”

All of this suggests their goal is to persuade voters and lawmakers to legalize unrestricted abortion.

When the Arkansas Legislature convenes in a few days, lawmakers likely will face pressure to weaken the state’s good, pro-life laws. But groups like Planned Parenthood or the ACLU likely won’t be satisfied unless Arkansas writes unrestricted abortion into its state constitution. That’s something that lawmakers and voters alike should keep in mind.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

How Pro-Lifers in Arkansas are Helping Women Facing Unplanned Pregnancies

On Thursday CBN News highlighted how pro-lifers in Arkansas are helping women who face unplanned pregnancies.

Family Council’s Charisse Dean sat down with CBN’s Paul Petitte to talk about how the State of Arkansas provides grant funding to pro-life pregnancy help organizations.

CBN also interviewed leaders from pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations.

You can watch the news segment below.

Data Shows 728 Women from Arkansas Had Abortions in Kansas Last Year

New data shows 728 women from Arkansas had abortions in Kansas during 2023.

Since the reversal of Roe, Arkansas’ pro-life laws generally have protected women and unborn children from abortion except when the mother’s life is at risk. However, abortion facilities in other states encourage women to travel across state lines for abortion.

This month the Kansas Department of Health released its annual abortion statistics. The report shows that abortions increased in the Sunflower State from 12,318 in 2022 to 19,467 in 2023. More than 3/4 of the abortions performed in Kansas last year were on women from out-of-state.

The data reveals abortionists in Kansas performed 728 abortions on women from Arkansas.

Some 3,283 women from Oklahoma had abortions in Kansas in 2023, and a staggering 7,606 abortions were performed on women from Texas.

Over the summer Family Council learned Planned Parenthood had secretly acquired a facility in Pittsburg, Kansas — a town of some 20,000 residents — within driving distance of Northwest Arkansas.

NPR recently published a story showcasing how that Planned Parenthood facility is targeting women from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas — making the center an abortion destination for women from out-of-state.

Women and families deserve better than abortion. It’s important to prohibit abortion through legislation, but we need to eliminate the demand for abortion as well.

One way Arkansans can do that is by supporting pro-life organizations that empower women with real options besides abortion.

Arkansas is home to more than 60 organizations that assist pregnant women — including some 45 pregnancy resource centers that help women with unplanned pregnancies. These types of charities can encourage women not to travel to states like Kansas for abortions.

The State of Arkansas recently voted to award $2 million in grants to pregnancy-help organizations for the 2024-2025 budget cycle. That money is going to help a lot of women and children in the coming months.

And here is another point for pro-lifers in Arkansas to consider:

Prior to the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, approximately 3,000 abortions were performed in Arkansas every year. The data out of Kansas indicates that while hundreds of women from Arkansas traveled out-of-state for abortions last year, Arkansas’ pro-life laws still protected many more women and unborn children from abortion.

You can read the abortion reports from the State of Kansas here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.