BDF Advisor Dr. Maureen Condic In Congress on the Science of Fetal Pain

On May 23, 2013, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, Chaired by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) held a hearing on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, H.R. 1797. Below are links to videos from the hearing and to transcripts of witness testimony, including the science of pain by BDF advisor Dr. Maureen Condic.
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LANDMARK COURT VICTORY: AZ 20 WEEK ABORTION RESTRICTION UPHELD

Appeal Update: AZ 20 Week Abortion Restriction

FOX News: November 5, 2012. Appeals Court hears oral arguments on AZ 20 week law.

On August 1, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit set an expedited briefing schedule during which the the effective date of the Arizona 20 week abortion restriction will be delayed. This will allow the three-judge panel to consider briefing by the parties on the the law as upheld by Judge Teilborg.

Bioethics Defense Fund will continue to provide legal consultation to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who is committed to vigorously defending Arizona’s law that recognizes the humanity of the unborn child, as well as the documented danger of late-term abortion to women’s health.

Review the appeal briefs filed by the parties and the supporting amici at the 9th Circuit webpage: Isaacson v. Horne, 12-16670.

• Read the district court ruling.
• Read the oral argument transcript.
• Read the bill: Arizona H.B. 2036.

July 30, 2012. Phoenix, Arizona. Bioethics Defense Fund is pleased to announce a landmark victory in federal district court upholding a cutting-edge Arizona law that restricts abortion at 20 weeks except in cases of medical emergency “to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” A normal pregnancy is 40 weeks, so this restriction applies to late-term abortions where the unborn child is nearly 6 months gestation.

Bioethics Defense Fund attorneys Nikolas T. Nikas and Dorinda Bordlee provided intense legal consultation to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, a lead defendant in the emergency injunction action filed 10 days ago by the ACLU and the New York based Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of three late-term abortion providers.

The challenged Act, AZ H.B. 2036, included pages of medical findings concerning documented risks to women’s health and the strong medical evidence that unborn children feel pain during an abortion at that gestational age.

In today’s ruling, federal district Judge Teilborg concluded:

“Given the nature of D&Es and induction abortions, as described above, and the finding that the unborn child has developed pain sensors all over its body by 20 weeks gestational age, this Court concludes that the State has shown a legitimate interest in limiting abortions past 20 weeks gestational age. Further, in promulgating H.B. 2036, Arizona expressed concerns for the health of the pregnant woman, finding that the instance of complications is highest after twenty weeks of gestation. This additional legitimate interest further supports H.B. 2036’s regulation on abortions after 20 weeks gestational age.”

“Given the nature of D&Es and induction abortions, as described above, and the finding that the unborn child has developed pain sensors all over its body by 20 weeks gestational age, this Court concludes that the State has shown a legitimate interest in limiting abortions past 20 weeks gestational age. Further, in promulgating H.B. 2036, Arizona expressed concerns for the health of the pregnant woman, finding that the instance of complications is highest after twenty weeks of gestation. This additional legitimate interest further supports H.B. 2036’s regulation on abortions after 20 weeks gestational age.”

BDF’s Dorinda Bordlee said that the extraordinary oral argument transcript and ruling describing the brutal D&E method are available on the BDFund.org website. “This ruling should be studied by everyone in the pro-life movement,” said Bordlee, “because it foreshadows the day that the Supreme Court will return the abortion issue back to the state legislatures to act on their legitimate interests in protecting women and unborn children from the unspeakable violence of abortion.”

• Read the district court ruling.
• Read the oral argument transcript.
• Read the bill: Arizona H.B. 2036.

Media Contacts:
Nikolas T. Nikas, Bioethics Defense Fund, info@bdfund.org
Dorinda C. Bordlee, Bioethics Defense Fund, 504-231-7234

Bioethics Defense Fund is a national public-interest organization that puts law in the service of life via model legislation, litigation and public education.