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We should be celebrating Arizona’s new pro-life law set to take effect next week. Instead, we wait for a ruling on whether an Arizona judge will issue a preliminary injunction, putting a hold on the law pending the outcome of a lawsuit by pro-abortion activists. We discuss Wednesday’s court hearing in today’s policy podcast here.

All new laws passed during the last legislative session are scheduled to go into effect next Wednesday, September 29, including the one challenged in court that protects preborn babies with genetic conditions like Down syndrome. The same law protects women from the abortion industry’s efforts to circumvent safety precautions by sending the abortion pill through the mail.

The judge’s ruling will determine whether the two key provisions of the CAP-supported law go into effect, or if they will have to wait for the case to make its way through the courts.

There are several provisions to the new pro-life law:

Provisions being challenged:

• Prohibits abortions based on genetic abnormality, except in the case of a lethal fetal condition or in the case of an emergency
• Arizona laws are to be interpreted to value all human life at every stage of development

Provisions that will take effect September 29th:

• Prohibits the abortion pill being sent through the mail or via courier
• Prohibits public education institutions from performing or providing abortions, unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother
• Prohibits tax dollars from funding research involving abortion remains
• Calls for the burial or cremation of an aborted unborn baby’s remains
• Removes a pre-Roe law penalizing a woman for getting an abortion

Meeting the needs, choosing life

Finally, after three years of trying to fund a pilot program designed to meet the needs of women seeking an abortion so they can choose life for their preborn babies – it’s happening!

The Family Health Pilot Program (page 42):

• At least two nonprofit organizations will implement a statewide system to provide direct services, support services, social services case management and referrals to women with children under two-years-old, including preborn babies. The purpose is to encourage healthy childbirth, support childbirth as an alternative to abortion, promote family formation, aid successful parenting and increase families’ economic self-sufficiency.
• The statewide system services must be available to all Arizona residents in both urban and rural areas.
• Entities providing or referring abortion services are not eligible.
• The organizations must demonstrate:
  • Experience in marketing and serving the eligible patient populations
  • Start providing services within 60 days of receiving the grant
  • Preferences go to organizations already serving Arizona
  • Provide quarterly reports to Arizona Department of Health Services

Providing for homeless pregnant women

For several years, Arizona lawmakers have funded a program to help house and provide for homeless pregnant women. This year, the program doubled the amount… money has gone to Maggie’s place, but any organization meeting the requirements can apply.

The money provides (page 43):

• Assistance to nonprofit organizations in a county of more than 3 million Arizonans to provide shelter, food, clothing, transportation for health services, and support to homeless pregnant women and their children under one-year old.
• Entities providing or referring abortion services are not eligible.

Calling for the care of abortion survivor

Arizona law requires abortion entities provide basic care for babies who survive abortions. State lawmakers, this year, called on Congress to do the same.

The resolution calls on Congress to act, and states that the Arizona House and Senate:

• Strongly supports the enactment of the Born-Alive Abortion survivors Protection Act
• Strongly supports the enactment of the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion

It is interesting to note, when Arizona Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs transmitted the resolution to the Governor, the President, Vice President, and all U.S. lawmakers from Arizona, as required by the law, she included a letter berating lawmakers for passing it and laying out her opposition to it.

She called the resolution “irresponsible” and took the opportunity to state her support for abortion and the effort to teach comprehensive sex education to public school students. Read her letter here.

Adoption, not abortion

Current law requires Arizona DHS to provide information about adoption on its website, but it takes several searches to find it. This new law requires comprehensive adoption information be prominently displayed on the website so those seeking to possibly choose adoption over abortion can easily access the information, as well as those seeking to adopt.

The adoption information law:

On or before February 1, 2022, the department of health services must provide on the department’s public website home page a conspicuous link that directs an individual to the following easily comprehensible information, in both English and Spanish:

• A list of public and private agencies and services available to assist a woman through pregnancy, on childbirth and while her child is dependent. Any agency that counsels, refers, performs, induces, prescribes or provides any means for abortion may not be included on the list.
• Each agency’s services, physical address, telephone number and website address, if available.
• Information on and a link to a separate featured web page that is accessible by redirecting from the domain name adoptionoption.az.gov and that lists all of the following:
  1. public and nonprofit adoption agencies that are not affiliated with an abortion provider and that are arranged geographically.
  2. easily comprehensible first steps to assist a pregnant woman seeking to confidentially explore the option of placing her child for adoption.
  3. whether the adoption agency allows the woman to choose the adoptive parents.
  4. agencies that offer obstetric ultrasounds free of charge.
  5. agencies that offer confidential counseling free of charge to a woman considering placing her child for adoption.
  6. All information must be available in an easily downloadable printed format.

Respect for humanity

To show dignity for all human life, a new law requires the term “products of conception” in Arizona abortion law to be changed to “an unborn child.”

ICYMI

• A high school coach fired for praying on the field is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.
• On December 1st The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case challenging Roe v. Wade. Read here Susan B. Anthony List’s response, which includes a rundown of how developed a preborn baby is at 15 weeks gestation.
• Breakpoint asks, what is “The Cost of Digital Addictions?”