Abortion industry sues to halt pro-life legislation

By Joyce Coronel | Sept. 30, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information that became available Sept. 30.

Planned Parenthood and its allies have succeeded in convincing a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to issue a preliminary injunction Tuesday, preventing recent legislation restricting abortion access.

Planned Parenthood filed suit Sept. 14 in Maricopa County Superior Court to prevent the new laws from taking effect Sept. 30. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a similar lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Phoenix the same day.

Nikolas Nikas, counsel for the Bioethics Defense Fund, a pro-life advocacy firm, said the laws passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Janet Brewer are “common-sense regulations.”

The new laws call for a 24-hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion and require physicians to inform women of alternatives and the risks of undergoing the procedure. They also tighten parental consent requirements by mandating notarized signatures and specify that non-physicians may not perform abortions.

The conscience rights of health care providers, including pharmacists, to opt out of providing emergency contraception that provokes an abortion, are also protected by the legislation.  

“The fact that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry would sue to overturn these shows how desperate they are,” Nikas said. In response to the contention of abortion-rights supporters that the legislation prevents a woman from terminating a pregnancy, Nikas stressed that the laws “don’t prevent a woman from having an abortion, they protect valid state interests recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Fighting the lawsuit will be the combined forces of the Bioethics Defense Fund, the Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Catholic Conference, with the Alliance Defense Fund leading the litigation efforts.

Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, the advocacy arm of the three Arizona dioceses, said the new laws represented a “tremendous victory” and that pro-life forces expect to prevail in court.

“The purpose of this legislation is to update and clarify existing Arizona laws on abortion and rights of conscience. When this legislation becomes law it will further protect the rights of women, children, and health care workers,” Johnson said.

Nikas said that the lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights were indicative of the tactics abortion-rights groups have used over the years.

“The laws were passed by the people through normal democratic processes,” Nikas said. “Once again, the abortion industry uses the courts to thwart the normal democratic process.”

At press time, the matter was still before the court. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights have asked the court to prevent the new laws from taking effect until the issues presented in the lawsuit have been litigated.

The plaintiffs in the case allege that the new legislation violates what they say is a woman’s constitutionally protected right to privacy and right to obtain an abortion.

ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden said the new laws help ensure that women receive full and accurate information before undergoing an abortion.

“These lawsuits are more about protecting ‘bottom lines’ than protecting women’s rights. If Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights really cared about women’s rights, they’d support laws that allow women to make fully informed choices instead of challenging these laws in court,” Aden said.  “These types of protections have been repeatedly upheld and are overwhelmingly supported by the public.”

For its part, Planned Parenthood alleges on its Web site, www.plannedparenthood.org, that the new laws are “ominous” and redefine[s] a fetus as an unborn child.”