Posted on 07/05/2023 11:36:55 AM PDT by Morgana
Missouri pro-life advocates celebrated another victory for life Friday when a judge blocked the city of St. Louis from forcing taxpayers to support killing unborn babies in abortions.
The preliminary injunction from St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser blocks the city from spending $1.75 million in federal COVID-19 relief money on a new pro-abortion program, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“[Friday] was a momentous day for women and their unborn children as Missouri courts upheld state law standing for the sanctity of life,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey responded Saturday in a statement. “As long as I’m attorney general, my office will continue to use every tool at its disposal to protect the unborn. Our children are worth the fight.”
Bailey’s office sued the City of St. Louis last year after its Democrat leaders voted to create the Reproductive Equity Fund. The new program, run by the city health department, provides logistical support to help women travel to other states for elective abortions.
Missouri law protects unborn babies by banning elective abortions as well as taxpayer-funded abortions. The abortion ban went into effect last summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Here’s more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Sengheiser declined to grant the city’s motion to dismiss the Missouri Attorney General lawsuit and blocked the city from granting any of the money to four organizations that had applied for the funds, including the St. Louis Doula Project and Midwest Access Coalition. Five other organizations that had applied for funds for mental health and parental support were not blocked from receiving the financial assistance.
In a separate case, the judge also dismissed ten of the eleven challenges to the state abortion ban on Friday, the report continues. Abortion activists claim in the lawsuit that the state-wide protections for unborn babies violate their religious freedom.
Samuel H. Lee of Campaign Life Missouri said both of the judge’s decisions were victories for life.
“Missouri law is clear that tax dollars cannot be used to perform or assist abortions – whether in Missouri or out of state,” Lee responded. “And Missouri law has never recognized a ‘religious’ right to abortion. We are grateful that a St. Louis judge has issued sensible rulings upholding both innocent life and the rule of law.”
In 1986, Missouri passed a law that prohibits the use of public funds, facilities and employees “for the purpose of performing or assisting an abortion, not necessary to save the life of the mother, or for the purpose of encouraging or counseling a woman to have an abortion not necessary to save her life.”
Additionally, a 2019 law makes clear that “the intention of the general assembly of the state of Missouri [is] to … Defend the right to life of all humans, born and unborn [and] Declare that the state and all of its political subdivisions are a ‘sanctuary of life’ that protects pregnant women and their unborn children.”
State lawmakers and pro-life advocates also have been working to increase support for pregnant and parenting families, including a new campaign to raise awareness about the resources available to help mothers choose life for their unborn babies.
Since the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling last summer, many states have begun enforcing pro-life laws. Currently, 18 states have laws that protect unborn babies from abortion, but some are blocked in on-going court battles.
These laws are saving lives. Estimates vary, but a recent report from the Society of Family Planning found that abortions dropped by about 24,000 nationwide from July 2022 to March 2023. Additional research shows the Texas Heartbeat Act resulted in about 1,000 more babies being born every month in Texas.
I did not know this
” The new program, run by the city health department, provides logistical support to help women travel to other states for elective abortions.”
Now if only the whole country could follow suit.
God bless the judge!
I grew up in a St Louis suburb...
What a hellhole the whole place has become :-/
I thought Memphis was bad!
As it should be!
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