Maryland Republican leaders slammed an effort this week to create a “right” to kill unborn babies in abortions in the state constitution, saying lawmakers should focus instead on keeping “families and communities safe.”
On Thursday, Gov. Wes Moore and Democrat leaders introduced a series of pro-abortion bills including a state constitutional amendment that would create a right to abort unborn babies for any reason up to birth.
“Apparently, last year’s bill that created a massive expansion of abortion services was not enough,” state Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey and Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready responded in a statement published at The Bay Net.
The Republican lawmakers said their Democrat peers are denying fundamental rights outlined in the constitution and trying to create others that do not exist.
“What makes Maryland Democrats the arbiters of what is and is not a constitutional right? On Tuesday, Marylanders were told that their Second Amendment rights do not apply in Maryland, and today, Marylanders and citizens from around the country were told that everyone has the right to unrestricted abortion,” Hershey and Ready said.
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They criticized pro-abortion Democrats for championing the abortion cause, saying “becoming the abortion capital of the United States is not something to aspire to or be proud of.” And they urged their fellow lawmakers to focus on protecting families instead.
“If the only rights and freedoms that matter are those in the Maryland Constitution, there are several others we would like to enshrine – such as the freedom to keep our families and communities safe, freedom from over taxation, and the freedom of parents to direct the upbringing of their children,” Hershey and Ready said.
Maryland allows unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth, and is home to at least two late-term abortion facilities. It allows nurse practitioners and midwives to abort unborn babies and allows underage girls to get abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
In January, Moore used one of his first acts as governor to approve $3.5 million in taxpayer dollars to train more abortionists. Last year, Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, refused to approve the funding.
The proposed constitutional amendment would make it more difficult for future state legislatures to pass any protections for unborn babies and mothers against abortion.
To amend the Maryland Constitution, the measure must pass the state legislature by a three-fifths majority and then be approved by voters on the ballot. This year, Democrats won supermajorities in the state House and Senate, the AP reports.
Maryland does not report its abortion numbers to the Centers for Disease Control, so it is not clear exactly how many unborn babies are killed there every year. Johnstons Archive reported an estimated 30,750 abortions in 2020 based on research from the Guttmacher Institute.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion in June, the pro-abortion movement has been trying to create a “right” to abort unborn babies in state constitutions through ballot initiatives. Vermont, California and Michigan passed pro-abortion constitutional amendments in November, and abortion activists are trying to advance similar measures in other states.
Several states have pro-life constitutional amendments that voters passed in recent years, including Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Currently, 14 states are enforcing pro-life laws that prohibit or strictly limit the killing of unborn babies in abortions, and others are fighting in court to do the same. Pro-life leaders estimate tens of thousands of babies’ lives have been saved since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
Polls consistently show a strong majority of Americans support legal protections for unborn babies, especially after the first trimester or once their heartbeat is detectable.
