Albuquerque Late-Term Abortion Ban Sponsors Named 2013 Pro-Life Persons of the Year

National   |   Cheryl Sullenger   |   Dec 16, 2013   |   11:55AM   |   Albuquerque, NM

Pro-life missionaries Bud and Tara Shaver, of Project Defending Life in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have been named as recipients of the 2013 Pro-life Person of the Year Malachi Award in recognition of their outstanding work in bringing the matter of late-term abortions into the national spotlight.

After an internship with Operation Rescue, the Shavers moved to Albuquerque in 2010 to expose late-term abortions at Southwestern Women’s Options, one of the few abortion clinics in the nation that openly conduct abortions throughout the full nine months of pregnancy.

Tara’s ground-breaking research documented evidence of numerous life-threatening abortion emergencies and other abuses at that late-term abortion facility. She also uncovered that state taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for late-term procedures at the cost of thousands of dollars each.

Information gathered by the Shavers became the basis of a citizen’s petition to amend the City of Albuquerque’s charter to ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation, when babies are known to feel pain. That initiative was the first-ever attempt to ban an abortion procedure at the municipal level. Tara and Bud Shaver spearheaded a grass roots signature drive that garnered a record 27,000 in just 20 days to place the late-term abortion ban on the ballot, then established a Political Action Committee that campaigned in favor of it.

While the Albuquerque Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance failed to pass during a November 19 city-wide vote, the Shavers, who served as national media spokespersons for the effort, contributed significantly to an increased awareness of late-term abortions in New Mexico an across the nation.

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The Malachi Award is given by Operation Rescue every year to recognize individuals who sacrificially work to advance the cause of protecting the pre-born.

Previous recipients include Kortney Bythe Gordon, of Students for Life in America who was killed in a tragic car accident in 2011; Eileen Smith, who crusades against abortion after her daughter was killed by abortionist Rapin Osathanondh; Jim Pouillon, a pro-life activist who was gunned down during a peaceful protest in 2009; Lila Rose of Live Action Films for her documentation of Planned Parenthood abuses; Dr. Johnny Hunter of LEARN, who is exposing the devastating effects of abortion on the African-American community; Leslee Unruh, who spearheaded efforts to ban abortion in South Dakota; and Phill Kline, the former Kansas prosecutor whose abortion investigations led to the only criminal case ever filed against Planned Parenthood.

LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue, a pro-life that monitors abortion practitioners and exposes their illegal and unethical practices.