A Tale of Two States: Unborn saved in Nebraska; in Maryland, tragedy

A Tale of Two States:  Some unborn babies and their mothers protected from dangerous abortions, some not. This week, legislative chambers in two more states passed landmark legislation created by National Right to Life to ban elective abortions when an unborn baby is capable of feeling pain.  Arkansas and North Dakota appear to be on their way to becoming the eighth and ninth states to enact this life-saving legislation.    Laws to ban abortions when a baby can feel pain not only save lives and prevent horrific suffering, but they push back the boundaries ofRoe v. Wade, the infamous decision that forced abortion on demand on the laws of all 50 states.     When the Supreme Court first passed Roe and its related abortion cases, it effectively made all abortions legal, right up to birth.  Eventually the Court allowed some regulation of abortion, and finally, in 2007, it upheld the banning of partial-birth abortion.    Over the years, these new regulations and protections we’ve passed have helped push the number of abortions down by some 400,000 per year.  And now, in many states, we’re successfully banning abortions when an unborn baby is capable of feeling pain.     These laws are great teachers, for they show the American public what Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates have tried so hard for 40 years to hide:  That an abortion doesn’t end the development of a “group of cells” or “glob of tissue,” but it destroys the life of a living, growing human being, one who often is capable of feeling pain.    Tragically, the need for these laws was made more stark last week by the news out of Germantown, Maryland, where twenty-nine year old Jennifer Morbelli and her 33-week-old unborn child both died after an abortion by abortionist LeRoy Carhart.     Carhart is a notorious abortionist whose clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska conducted abortions late into pregnancy.  His name is even prominent in court cases defending the right to perform partial-birth abortions.  Carhart performed late abortions in Nebraska with impunity until the Nebraska legislature passed National Right to Life’s Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.   With late abortions thus illegal in Nebraska, Carhart started performing them on women in Maryland, where abortion laws are very loose.  And now a woman – and her 33-week-old unborn baby – are dead.    National Right to Life will continue to work to pass any and all protections for unborn children that the Supreme Court will allow.  And we will educate the American public about the humanity and development of these precious unborn babies so everyone understands their value, their worth, and their ability to feel pain in many abortions.    You can be a part of this humanitarian work, by speaking up for the unborn, by joining a chapter of National Right to Life, by offering your financial support to our life-saving work.  A gift of $50 or $100 will do more than you can know to educate the public and opinion leaders about the need to protect the unborn at all stages of development.     Please click below to share a generous gift – the gift of Life!   Thank you!   Carol Tobias National Right to Life President     National Right to Life 512 10th St. NW, Washington, DC 20004 202.626.8800 - www.nrlc.org