Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones is pushing for a state constitutional amendment that would create a “right” to abort unborn babies for basically any reason up to birth.
This week, Jones and other Democrat leaders brought up fears that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade soon as a reason for the amendment, The Baltimore Sun reports.
“We will do everything we can to make sure women’s reproductive health care is always protected in Maryland,” said Jones, D-Baltimore.
The state House of Delegates and Senate must pass legislation by April for the proposed amendment to be on the November ballot for voters’ consideration. With pro-abortion Democrats in control of the state legislature, it appears likely.
“I think we believe we have the votes to pass this,” said state Del. Shane Pendergrass, D-Howard County, according to The Sun.
The Washington Informer reports the amendment would create a “right to reproductive liberty” in the Maryland Constitution and prohibit the state from infringing on that right “unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
TAKE ACTION: Contact Maryland House lawmakers and urge opposition to pro-abortion legislation.
Maryland is one of a handful of states that already allows unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth. A constitutional amendment would make it even more difficult for the state to pass protections for unborn babies in the years ahead.
The Planned Parenthood abortion chain, which does about 40 percent of all abortions in the U.S., supports the legislation.
“Abortion is health care and health care is a human right. And access to abortion care is clearly a civil right,” said Karen Nelson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Maryland.
The state House Health and Government Operations Committee has a hearing on the legislation scheduled for Feb. 22.
Democrat lawmakers also introduced bills (Senate Bill 890 and House Bill 952) this year to allow nurses and medical assistants to abort unborn babies and to force all health insurance plans to cover elective abortions.
Maryland Right to Life slammed the pro-abortion legislation, calling the bills dangerous for mothers as well as unborn babies.
“One of the few pro-life protections in the Maryland Code is the legal requirement that only a licensed physician may perform abortions,” the pro-life organization responded on its website. “But the abortion industry is asking the state to authorize them to put profits over pregnant patients and allow practically anyone to perform surgical abortions and dispense dangerous chemical abortion pills.”
The state does not require abortion facilities to report their abortion numbers, but the pro-life organization estimated nearly 30,000 unborn babies are aborted in Maryland every year.
TAKE ACTION: Contact Maryland House lawmakers and urge opposition to pro-abortion legislation.
