Michigan Governor Signs Repeal of 1931 Abortion Ban

On April 5, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation repealing the state's 1931 law which made it a felony to assist in an abortion.

The abortion law was unenforceable after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, but it should have gone into effect once again after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe. Whitmer and other pro-abortion activists filed lawsuits to block the law from being enforced.

“Today, we are coming together to repeal the extreme 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing nurses and doctors for doing their jobs,” Whitmer said in a press release.

“Standing up for people’s fundamental freedoms is the right thing to do and it’s also just good economics. By getting this done, we will help attract talent and business investment too. I will continue to use every tool in my toolbox to support, protect, and affirm reproductive freedom for every Michigander, and I’ll work with anyone to make Michigan a welcoming beacon of opportunity where anyone can envision a future.”

The idea that society should sacrifice innocent human life for the sake of "economics" or "business investment" is appalling. Human lives are inherently valuable in a way that can't be defined by money.

“Today is a dark day for women in our state and for unborn children nearing birth,” said Right to Life Michigan President Barbara Listing. “Cloaking the elimination of long-standing, common-sense health and safety protections in the mantra of ‘women’s rights’ demonstrates the extreme nature of the Governor’s abortion activism.”

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Federal Judge Upholds Indiana Dismemberment Abortion Ban

On March 31, a federal judge ruled that Indiana's 2019 ban on dismemberment abortions can remain in place.

This law prohibited the dilation and evacuation method of abortion. This method involves an abortionist reaching through a mother's cervix with metal instruments to tear the child apart piece by piece. Dismembering the child this way causes the child to bleed to death.

The law's enforcement was blocked before it could take effect in 2019, but Judge Sarah Evans Barker lifted the injunction after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022. Court proceedings continued, but the law became enforceable during this time.

Barker's ruling last month rejects the challenge by abortionist Caitlin Bernard. Her argument was based on the "undue burden" standard often used when Roe v. Wade was a standing precedent. Barker granted Bernard 30 days to file an amended complaint under a new legal theory.

Bloomberg Law wrote that this new legal theory claims that "the dilation and evacuation abortion ban violates a person’s 14th Amendment substantive due process right to bodily integrity, at least as it applies to nonelective abortions."

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Washington Gov Stockpiles Mifepristone as Lawsuit Challenges Pill's FDA Approval

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D)

Pro-abortion Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee used his power to stockpile 30,000 doses of the abortion pill mifepristone in preparation for a possible court decision ordering the FDA to withdraw its approval of the drug.

Inslee directed the Department of Corrections to order the doses using its pharmacy license. The pills arrived in Washington on March 31, costing the state $1.28 million. The University of Washington purchased an additional 10,000 pills.

Inslee ordered the mifepristone to prepare for a potential decision from Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who is overseeing a challenge to the mifepristone's FDA approval.

“This Texas lawsuit is a clear and present danger to patients and providers all across the country,” Inslee said. “Washington will not sit by idly and risk the devastating consequences of inaction. We are not afraid to take action to protect our rights. Washington is a pro-choice state and no Texas judge will order us otherwise.”

Inslee says that the pills will continue to be available in Washington regardless of Kacsmaryk's decision.

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) filed the lawsuit challenging mifepristone's FDA approval in November of 2022. It represents groups of pro-life doctors from the American College of Pediatricians, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. AHM's lawsuit accuses the FDA of “illegally approving chemical abortion drugs that harm women and girls.”

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing AHM in this case. ADF senior counsel Erik Baptist argued that President Bill Clinton's executive order fast-tracking the FDA approval of mifepristone exploited the approval system. “To add to this problem,” Baptist said, “the FDA did not have any evidence or studies on the potential harms of the drug regimen before approving it.”

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Maryland to Place Abortion Rights Amendment on 2024 Ballot

photo credit: Rudi Riet / Flickr

On March 30, the Maryland General Assembly voted to place a constitutional amendment creating a right to abortion on the 2024 ballot.

Maryland is a heavily pro-abortion state, and the amendment is expected to pass at the ballot box.

Maryland legislators passed several other pro-abortion bills. One would protect abortionists from extradition to pro-life states if they break they break abortion laws. Another would hide abortion procedures in patient medical records.

Pro-abortion Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has expressed his intent to sign both bills.

Three states have enacted constitutional amendments creating a right to abortion. These are California, Vermont, and Michigan. Connecticut is currently considering an amendment.

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Alabama Senator Blocks 184 Military Promotions to Protest DOD Abortion Policy

In protest of the Biden Department of Defense (DOD) policy requiring all branches of the military to pay the abortion travel expenses of military members and their dependents, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) blocked nearly 200 promotions for officers and generals.

Tuberville refused to allow the promotions by unanimous consent of the Senate. The promotions could still technically occur, but they would require Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to bring each of the 184 nominees for individual votes.

“Let’s be clear about what we’re talking about,” Tuberville said on the Senate floor. “We’re not talking about access to abortion. We’re talking about taxpayer funding for travel and extra pay time to get elective abortions.”

“This policy includes spouses and dependents,” the senator continued. “We’re talking about taxpayer funding for somebody’s kids to get an abortion in another state. This has never been in the policy until now because Congress has ensured that the Pentagon cannot perform or facilitate abortions, except in legal circumstances and limited.”

Tuberville told the Senate that he plans to continue to block the promotions by unanimous consent unless the Biden DOD changes its policy on funding abortion travel.

“Over the past 40 years, I don’t recall one military person ever complaining that we weren’t performing enough abortions. I want our military to be the strongest and the deadliest it has ever been but I also want the administration to follow the law,” he said. “As long as I have a voice in this body, Congress will write the laws, not the secretary of defense, not the Joint Chiefs.”

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West Virginia Gov. Signs Law Providing Funding for PRCs

West Virginia Gov. Jim Jordan signing the Support for Mothers and Babies Act

In stark contrast to the anti-PRC bill currently being considered by the Illinois General Assembly, West Virginia just enacted legislation providing funding to these organizations.

Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) help pregnant women who need assistance. PRCs help these women by providing ultrasounds, financial assistance, parental counseling, baby food, and/or diapers. Most PRCs offer these things free of charge. They function as charities, not businesses (unlike abortion clinics).

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed the Support for Mothers and Babies Act on March 28. Justice held a ceremony for the signing at CrossRoads Pregnancy Center in Charleston.

In addition to funding for PRCs, West Virginia's new law provides adoption incentives for West Virginia families.

“West Virginians elected an overwhelming majority of pro-life legislators to fight for babies, women, and families to be protected from the abortion industry,” West Virginians for Life legislative director Sadie Keaton said. “Thank you to all who fight for our most vulnerable, and work tirelessly to create a culture of life in West Virginia.”

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Anti-PRC Bill Passes Illinois Senate

This week, the Illinois Senate passed SB1909, otherwise known as the "Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act." If SB1909 becomes law, it would threaten pro-life pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) throughout the state with legal action.

SB1909 passed out of committee with an amendment on March 29, and the amended bill passed the full Illinois Senate on March 30.

The committee vote was along party lines: 9-4. Pro-life advocates filed 8942 witness slips opposing the bill, while pro-abortion witness slips only totaled 2725. The vote in the full senate was 36-19, also along party lines.

As introduced, SB1909 would penalize PRCs for using "deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact" with the intent to "interfere" with a person trying to access abortion or "emergency contraception." Pro-life advocates fear that the bill could be used to penalize pregnancy centers that don't refer women for abortions.

Further, the bill as introduced empowered the Illinois Attorney General to launch investigations into PRCs whenever he "believes it to be in the public interest that an investigation should be made to ascertain whether a limited services pregnancy center has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in, any practice declared to be unlawful by the Act." These investigations could continue endlessly, and they allow courts to seize PRC documents. Given enough time, such investigations could force PRCs to shut their doors.

Even third parties who have never been clients or patients would also be empowered to file lawsuits against PRCs. The bill does not provide for the recovery of attorney fees when a lawsuit is brought against a PRC in bad faith.

If found guilty, PRCs would face fines of up to $50,000 per violation.

The amendment passed on March 29 softened the bill somewhat. Language empowering the attorney general to launch investigations whenever he saw fit was removed from the bill. The remainder of the legislation appears to be very similar. We will provide updates as we learn more.

SB1909 has now been sent to the House for consideration. HB2463, SB1909's sister bill that was introduced in the House still contains the original language. The House could choose to push either bill. If the bills passed by the house and senate are different, then the Illinois General Assembly will need to reconcile those differences before sending a bill to pro-abortion Gov. JB Pritzker for signature.

Massachusetts Gov Threatens Pharmacists who Object to Abortion

Pro-abortion Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy issued a memo to pharmacies in the state on March 22. In it, Healy and the Massachusetts Department of Health threatened legal consequences for any pharmacist “that refuses to stock and/or procure, dispense, and/or fill any valid prescription and/or order for family planning medications, or impedes access in any way to any such medications.”

“Here in Massachusetts, we will always protect access to reproductive care, including abortion,” Governor Healey stated in the memo. “At a time when states are rushing to ban medication abortion and some pharmacies are irresponsibly restricting access to it, we are reminding Massachusetts pharmacies that they have an obligation to provide critical reproductive health medications, including Mifepristone. It’s safe, effective, and legal.”

Regulations from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy require "all Massachusetts licensed pharmacies or pharmacy departments to 'maintain on the premises at all times a sufficient variety and supply of medicinal chemicals and preparations which are necessary to compound and dispense commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community.'"

Gov. Healy's administration is interpreting the regulation to include abortion-inducing drugs as "necessary to meet the usual needs of the community." This includes mifepristone, misoprostol, emergency contraception, and contraceptive prescriptions.

Healy's interpretation clearly interferes with the conscience rights of pharmacists. Abortion ends the life of an innocent child. A pharmacist that objects to abortion should not be required to participate in it.

Mifepristone is the first drug in the abortion pill regimen. It kills an unborn child by inhibiting the flow of oxygen and nutrients to a child. Misoprostol is taken after the child has died by asphyxiation or starvation to induce labor and remove the dead child from the mother's womb.

"Emergency contraception" such as Plan B has the potential to cause abortion as well. Contraceptive methods taken after sex can end a pregnancy by preventing a fertilized embryo from implanting in the mother's womb. Because a child is alive from the moment of fertilization, a drug that prevents that child from implanting in the mother's womb can cause the death of an innocent child.

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Residents Fight Back after Abortion Business Purchases Danville Property

photo from Mark Lee Dickson

Local residents of Danville, Illinois are working to stop abortion from coming to their town after an Indiana abortionist purchased property there.

Ladonna Prince, the administrator for an Indianapolis abortion business named "Clinic for Women" was recently found to have purchased a property for a new location in Danville, Illinois. This location is six miles from the Indiana border. Prince would likely use it to circumvent Indiana's pro-life laws.

The Sanctuary Cities For the Unborn initiative is helping Danville residents draft an ordinance that would prevent the clinic from opening.

On March 27, members of the Illinois House of Representatives Freedom Caucus met with residents and held a press conference across the street from the planned abortion facility. Attending members included Representatives Chris Miller (R-Oakland), Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), and Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur).

At the press conference, Rep. Miller said, “Women from 31 different states had abortions in Illinois last year. We are rapidly becoming the baby-killing capital of the Midwest. We’re just not allowing killing babies. We are now at the place where we are celebrating it.”

Rep. Niemerg told the press,

“The people of Danville don’t want this abortion clinic in their community. My office has received numerous phone calls from people upset by what’s happening in their own backyard. There seems to be a sinister effort to bring abortion clinics to parts of Illinois that are overwhelmingly pro-life, just to make some sort of point. The far-left has moved far beyond merely making abortion legal. They have become abortion advocates.”

Mark Lee Dickson, Founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, also spoke at the conference. "Ladonna Prince in Indianapolis, Indiana wants to set up here in this city," Dickson said. "Well, the voice of this city is loud and they're saying, 'Not on our watch.'"

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Coast Guard Announces Plans to Pay Abortion Travel Expenses

The US Coast Guard is the latest federal agency to announce a policy that will pay the abortion travel expenses for members and their dependents.

The Coast Guard policy was created to conform with a directive from President Biden's Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III. In October 2022, the Secretary of Defense released a memo announcing that the military will pay abortion travel expenses. The policies are designed to undermine pro-life laws that would otherwise protect the unborn children of servicemembers stationed in pro-life states.

A Coast Guard bulletin on March 1 announced the new policy. It includes administrative absence and convalescent leave for abortions. In addition to paying travel expenses, the policy prevents loss of pay or loss of earned leave.

Fertility treatments such as IVF are also covered by the new policy. IVF is known to destroy or indefinitely freeze fertilized embryos. These embryos are unique, innocent human beings with a right to life.

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Oklahoma Supreme Court Upholds Trigger Law with Caveat

Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice M John Kane IV

On March 21, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision that Oklahoma's trigger law banning abortion is constitutional. At the same time, the court created a constitutional right to abortion without the "absolute certainty" that the mother's life is in danger; though the risk must be greater than a "mere possibility." This subjective standard has drawn ire from pro-life advocates.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court primarily used the history and tradition of Oklahoma, rather than the text of the state constitution, to determine that the Oklahoma Constitution creates a right to abortion to protect the life of the mother (an exception that was included in the trigger law). The majority wrote,

“The law in Oklahoma has long recognized a woman’s right to obtain an abortion in order to preserve her life (“unless the same is necessary to preserve her lie”). Our history and tradition have therefore recognized a right to an abortion when it was necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman. This right can be viewed as protected by the Oklahoma due process section. It can also be viewed as a right protected under the inherent rights provided in article II, section 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution.

… We hold that the Oklahoma Constitution creates an inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life. We would define this inherent right to mean: a woman has an inherent right to choose to terminate her pregnancy if at any point in the pregnancy, the woman’s physician has determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty or probability that the continuation of the pregnancy will endanger the woman’s life due to the pregnancy itself or due to a medical condition that the woman is either currently suffering from or likely to suffer from during the pregnancy. Absolute certainty is not required, however, mere possibility or speculation is insufficient."

In his dissent, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Richard Darby wrote, “The majority opinion purports to…find that–based on the Oklahoma statutory exception allowing abortions when necessary to preserve the life of the mother—Oklahoma has a constitutional due process right to abortion if necessary to preserve the life of the mother.”

Justice Dustin Rowe's dissent pointed out that the majority's decision states, “We make no ruling on whether the Oklahoma Constitution provides a right to an elective termination of pregnancy…” Rowe wrote, “I can only read this language as an attempt by the majority to leave the door open to further constitutional challenges, and certainly not to resolve this issue.”

Tony Lauinger, the State Chairman of Oklahomans for Life, wrote "The worst of it is, in determining whether an abortion is 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,' the Court has created a subjective standard which is virtually as broad as the health exception in Doe v. Bolton and which allows the abortionist to be as arbitrary as he wants. 

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Hawaii Gov Signs Law Protecting Abortionists, Repealing Parental Notification

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D)

On March 22, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed legislation expanding abortion in the state by lowering the qualifications for abortionists, ending a requirement that abortions be committed in medical facilities, and repealing Hawaii's parental notification law.

The law also protects abortionists in Hawaii from extradition to other states if they broke pro-life laws in other states. Hawaii state officials are prohibited from assisting pro-life states during investigations regarding abortion crimes.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a similar protection into law at the beginning of the year. HB4664 protects abortionists in Illinois from extradition to other states if they are accused of breaking pro-life laws in those states.

Hawaii's law further allows physician assistants to commit surgical abortions during the first trimester, and it ends a requirement that abortions be committed in hospitals or abortion facilities. The latter requirement was removed to legalize DIY at-home abortions using the abortion pill regimen.

Hawaii again follows Illinois in its repeal of a parental notification law. Pritzker signed a repeal in December 2021. Parental notification requirements not only allow parents to be involved in the deeply traumatic decision of abortion, but it helps make them aware of rape and human trafficking that are otherwise hidden by the abortion industry.

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Illinois March for Life Holds Rally at State Capitol

On March 21, thousands of pro-life advocates came to Springfield for the first Illinois March for Life at the state capitol.

Formerly "March for Life Chicago," the organization changed its name to "Illinois March for Life" last year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Rather than holding annual marches in Chicago, Illinois March for Life now plans to hold annual rallies at the capitol while the legislature is in session.

Among the bills currently being considered by state legislators are HB2463 and SB1909. The two bills would enact the "Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Act." If passed into law, it would empower the Illinois Attorney General to investigate pro-life Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) whenever he "believes it to be in the public interest that an investigation should be made to ascertain whether a limited services pregnancy center has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in, any practice declared to be unlawful by the Act."

No evidence or complaint is required for the Attorney General to launch an investigation. The Catholic Conference of Illinois has expressed fears that investigations could be endless, forcing PRCs to close.

Practices declared to be unlawful by the act include "using or employing any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact" with the intent to "interfere" with a person trying to access abortion or "emergency contraception." Because "material fact" is not defined, many pro-life advocates fear that an Attorney General could interpret the law to punish PRCs that refuse to refer women for abortions. Clinics found guilty of violating the law could be fined up to $50,000.

Springfield Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki led a mass service at Sangamon Auditorium before the events of the day. "Fear and anxiety can push women to believe that abortion is their only option," he said. "As Catholics, we know that abortion is never the answer for a woman in need."

Click here to watch a recording of the rally at the capitol.

US Supreme Court Throws Out Ruling that Court Clerks can be Sued for Denying Parental Notification Bypass

On March 20, the US Supreme Court threw out a lower-court ruling which allowed a 17-year-old to sue a Missouri state court clerk for refusing to grant a judicial bypass for Missouri's law requiring minors to obtain parental consent for abortions.

Missouri's parental consent law allows minors to bypass the consent requirement by receiving permission from a court. Federal courts often required parental consent and notification laws to contain judicial bypass provisions while Roe v. Wade was a standing Supreme Court precedent.

The minor went to a Missouri courthouse in 2018 to seek a judicial bypass for the parental consent law. Court clerk Michelle Chapman interpreted Missouri's law to require her to notify the minor's parents of the hearing. Not wanting to notify her parents, the minor chose to travel to Illinois where she obtained a judicial bypass and an abortion.

Illinois's Parental Notice of Abortion Act was still in place at the time, but abortion businesses were known to have relationships with abortion-friendly judges who could provide judicial bypasses. A bill repealing the parental notice law was passed with pro-abortion Gov. JB Pritzker's signature on Dec. 17, 2021. The repeal became effective on June 1, 2022.

Chapman, represented by lawyers with the state of Missouri, asked the Supreme Court last year to take up her case and determine whether minors have the right to a judicial bypass hearing without parental notification. Her team believed that the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade could make a difference in the case.

The Supreme Court vacated the 8th Circuit's decision denying that Chapman had immunity from the minor's lawsuit. The court sent the case back to that court to be dismissed as moot. The justices did not provide reasoning for the ruling, but Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissent. Jackson's dissent was primarily concerned with procedure, arguing that the court should not have intervened since the case had ended.

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Vermont Becomes Second Assisted Suicide Tourism State

On March 14, the Vermont attorney general's office agreed to drop the state's residency requirement to qualify for assisted suicide.

Connecticut resident Lynda Bluestein sued Vermont alongside Dr. Diana Barnard, a Vermont physician willing to prescribe lethal drugs to Bluestein and facilitate her death. Bluestein sought assisted suicide due to terminal cancer.

“I was so relieved to hear of the settlement of my case that will allow me to decide when cancer has taken all from me that I can bear,” Bluestein said. “The importance of the peace of mind knowing that I will now face fewer obstacles in accessing the autonomy, control, and choice in this private, sacred and very personal decision about the end of my life is enormous.”

Oregon made a similar change to its assisted suicide in March of 2022 after it was sued by a pro-assisted-suicide group. This makes Vermont the second state to open itself to "suicide tourism."

Like pro-abortion groups funnel vulnerable women to "abortion tourism" states like Illinois, assisted suicide groups can now take advantage of suffering patients from across the country by encouraging them to die in Oregon or Vermont.

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Two Wyoming Pro-Life Bills Pass into Law

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R)

Update: On March 22, Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens granted a temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of the "Life is a Human Right Act." The restraining order suspends the law for two weeks, but that duration could be extended while court proceedings continue.

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On Friday, March 17, two pro-life Wyoming bills passed into law. One was signed into law by pro-life Gov. Mark Gordon (R), but he allowed the other to go into effect without his signature.

Gordon signed Senate Enrolled Act 93. This law will make it illegal “to prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion on any person.” The law exempts pregnant patients from penalties. Abortionists and prescribers could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine.

With Senate Enrolled Act 93, Wyoming becomes the first state to pass a law outlawing the use of abortion pills separately from a total ban.

The second bill, the "Life is a Human Right Act," is a broad abortion ban. The legislature hopes that the broad ban will withstand a legal challenge, as a separate ban has been blocked pending a court decision. Gordon chose not to sign the bill because he believes it will delay a pending court decision regarding whether the Wyoming Constitution allows for abortion restrictions.

Gordon wrote, "HEA0088 Life is a Human Right Act will become law without my signature as it seems to be the will of the legislature, and while it may offer some improvement to the bill I signed just last year, I believe now more than ever that if the Legislature seeks final resolution on this important issue, it ultimately may have to come through a Constitutional amendment."

Gordon emphasized that he wants the courts to reach a decision about the constitutionality of abortion as soon as possible. This way, Wyoming could begin the process of proposing a Constitutional amendment on which Wyoming citizens can vote.

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New Mexico Gov. Signs Bill Overriding Local Abortion Bans

New Mexico Gov Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)

On March 16, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed legislation to override pro-life ordinances designed to limit abortion. Pro-lifers express concerns that this legislation could also legalize infanticide.

New Mexico HB 7 prohibits school boards, city councils, and other local governments from limiting "access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care" including abortion.

The American Center for Law and Justice expressed concerns that the new law (along with SB 13, which awaits the governor's signature at the time of writing) could collectively legalize infanticide.

“HB 7 and SB 13 do contain the term ‘perinatal’ as one of the elements of reproductive health care with which the government [or agent of] cannot interfere, deny or restrict,” ACLJ attorney Olivia Summers said.

Perinatal care includes care provided in the late stages of pregnancy and care provided to a child in the days and weeks after birth.

“By including the section that prohibits prosecution or punishment for not seeking perinatal care, the bill appears to be a cleverly crafted way to specifically protect against a failure to seek perinatal care for a baby born alive following a botched abortion.”

Elisa Martinez, executive director for the New Mexico Alliance for Life, took issue with language in HB 7 that would penalize public employees for interfering with another person's access to abortion. Institutions found to violate the law could face fines of up to $5,000.

“Ideologically driven legislation like this has the exact opposite effect to what the sponsors proclaim, as it is a mandate on behavior to refer or participate in abortions and transgender procedures for every public employee,” Martinez said.

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Unlicensed Rockford Abortionist Dodges Zoning Laws at "Home Business" Clinic

Abortionist Dennis Christensen

Despite operating a "home business" abortion clinic in Rockford, IL, a FOIA request by Operation Rescue found that abortionist Dennis Christensen still does not have a medical license in Illinois. He is also facing a lawsuit from neighborhood residents for circumventing zoning ordinances.

FOIA requests made by Operation Rescue revealed that Christensen does not have an active Illinois medical license. His most recent license expired in 2017 after his last Rockford abortion clinic was shut down by the state of Illinois. In 2011 inspectors found the Rockford clinic had unsanitized medical instruments, "brown substances" on surgical equipment and gloves, no hospital admitting privileges, and no registered nurse present during invasive procedures.

Christenen's new abortion business, the Rockford Family Planning Center, is located on Auburn St in a residential neighborhood. The Rockford Zoning Board of Appeals allowed the clinic to operate in the location due to a 40-year-old special permit allowing a home medical office there. The permit requires the operator to use the building as his primary residence. Christensen hopes to meet this requirement by arranging for the "manager of the site" to live in the clinic.

Citizens living in the neighborhood filed a lawsuit against Christensen for his attempt to skirt the zoning law. The lawsuit alleges that the zoning board erred in its decision to allow Christensen to operate a "home business" out of a building that is not his home.

Christensen purchased a second location at 4236 Maray Drive last summer. He plans to sell surgical abortions from that location. The "home business" clinic currently only offers abortion pills.

“The recklessness already legally present in the state is apparently not enough for Christensen and the city of Rockford,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “This illegal killing center currently operating, as well as Christensen’s plans for another abortion business in the city, needs to be shut down for good. The lawlessness in Rockford just adds to the dangerous, legal abortion clinics spread throughout the state that continue to put abortion-vulnerable mothers at extreme risk – including those traveling from other states.”

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Utah Gov Signs Bill Prohibiting Abortion at Non-Hospital Facilities

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R)

On March 15, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed legislation prohibiting abortion in non-hospital settings. Unless the law is blocked by a judge, abortion clinics in Utah will no longer be able to commit abortions.

The new abortion law also requires doctors to inform parents about perinatal hospice and palliative care if their preborn children are diagnosed with fatal conditions.

The Utah Hospital Association told the Associated Press that no hospitals in the state provided elective abortions last year. The association declined to say whether any hospitals planned to offer them if abortion clinics closed.

Utah passed two pro-life laws recently: one in 2019 and another in 2020. The 2019 law limits abortion to the first 18 weeks of gestation, and the 2020 law bans abortion at all gestational ages with some exceptions. The 2020 law is currently blocked pending the outcome of a Planned Parenthood lawsuit. The 18-week limit is still in effect.

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North Dakota Supreme Court Upholds Injunction Blocking Trigger Law

On March 16, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a lower court's injunction blocking the state's pro-life trigger law could stay in place while the legal challenge continues. In its ruling, the court wrote that the law is likely unconstitutional.

North Dakota's trigger law was passed in 2007 and was written to take effect upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Under the law, a person who commits an abortion could be found guilty of a felony unless the mother's life was in danger, or the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest. Only the abortionist, not the mother, could be found guilty under the trigger law.

The trigger law was set to take effect 30 days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, but a district court issued an injunction to block it. The injunction came after Red River Women's Clinic sued to block North Dakota from enforcing the law. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley filed an appeal asking the state supreme court to reinstate the trigger law, but the court has refused.

“The North Dakota Constitution explicitly provides all citizens of North Dakota the right of enjoying and defending life and pursuing and obtaining safety,” Chief Justice Jon Jensen wrote in the majority opinion. “These rights implicitly include the right to obtain an abortion to preserve the woman’s life or health.”

This is an odd statement since the law explicitly includes an exception for cases when the mother's life is in danger. Further, in direct contradiction with a supposed right to defend life, abortion threatens the lives of innocent children.

Opinions from the North Dakota Supreme Court's decision to let the injunction remain mentioned that this right to abortion is found in the state's right to self-defense. This logic appears to assume that a mother's life and health are attacked by her unborn child. This treats the child more like a parasite assaulting a woman's body than an innocent human being with a right to exist.

While the court did not issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the law, its decision does not bode well for the fate of North Dakota's trigger law.

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