“Abortion laws save lives!”

           

This should be our rallying cry in the pro-life movement.

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It is a short but accurate statement, which succinctly summarizes why it is critically important to have good, solid pro-life laws on the books.

           

While the abortion industry shouts, “Abortion is health care!” we know better. Abortion is the taking of an innocent, unrepeatable human life. It kills a defenseless, vulnerable preborn child and leaves a woman to grieve the loss of that child. It is an inhumane, violent act. It can involve starving the preborn baby to death, vacuuming out her body piece by piece, or dismembering her limb by limb. It is the most egregious form of cruel and unusual punishment, and it should not be tolerated in a civil society.

           

Years of concrete evidence show that abortion laws save lives. For instance, when the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act went into effect in the mid’90s following a protracted court fight, abortion totals dropped by half in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This was largely due to the Act’s requirement for parental consent for abortion. When girls are required to get a parent’s permission for abortion, they are far less likely to go through with it. Parental consent has truly been a life-saver.

           

Another life-affirming measure is the federal Hyde Amendment. This visionary piece of legislation ensures that our hard-earned tax dollars are not used to pay for abortions. It is estimated that more than two million Americans are alive today as a result of the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer funding of abortion except in the rare cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.  

 

Why do abortion laws save lives?

           

When an action is illegal, it is less likely that an individual will engage in it. He or she will not want to run the risk of running afoul of the law. This means that doctors are far less prone to commit abortions when they know that they could be prosecuted for any attempt to do so.

           

It is important to note here that the mainstream pro-life movement does not want to put abortion victims in jail. A woman considering abortion should not be prosecuted. It is the healthcare worker who carries out the abortion who should be held accountable.

           

Women who undergo abortions are victims of the grisly practice. They are left to confront the death of their preborn baby. They may also suffer physical and psychological effects from the abortion. They endure an unspeakable trauma and deserve compassion and support in order to find healing and grace.

           

If abortion laws save lives, why are we seeing voters enact Constitutional requirements for abortion on the state level?

           

The fact of the matter is that massive amounts of money are being poured into television advertising campaigns that are filled with lies and distortions. Voters are being misled time and time again with false claims about abortion laws. They are led to believe that these laws are dangerous and will lead to women’s deaths.

           

The truth is that shoddy health care leads to women’s demise. Life-saving care involves respecting the dignity of both patients—mother and child—and giving both appropriate treatment.

           

It should also be noted that pro-life laws contain exceptions for saving the life of the mother. These laws do not prevent miscarriage management or removing an ectopic pregnancy from a woman. The dire claims of the abortion industry are simply untrue and actually place women at risk.

           

Abortion itself can lead to a host of medical complications, including excessive bleeding and infection, along with major depression and sterility. Abortion is never safe for a baby and can be dangerous for the mother as well.

           

In Pennsylvania, efforts are underway to strip the Commonwealth of critical protections for preborn children and their mothers. Lawmakers with a radical pro-abortion stand are circulating co-sponsorship memos for bills that would wipe out key provisions of the Abortion Control Act. These legislators, beholden to the abortion industry, want to end such common sense practices as 24-hour waiting periods for abortion, protections against late-term abortion, parental consent, and informed consent.

           

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives maintains a pro-abortion leadership by the narrowest of margins. But in the PA Senate, pro-life leaders remain in control. This means that the state Senate can erect a legislative firewall to prevent pro-abortion bills from advancing.

 

As a result, advocates for life must play defense. We must do everything in our power to defend our time-tested pro-life laws. Countless lives have been saved because of these measures. Women have also been spared the pain of the loss of a child that comes with abortion. Our laws are life-giving, and we can take heart in that!

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