AUL’s Vice President of External Affairs Jeanneane Maxon authored an article in the current issue of The Christian Lawyer. The article is part of a series on “Seeking Justice in Hard Times” and the title is “Supporting Women Facing Unintended Pregnancies.”
An excerpt:
As persons trained in interpreting and influencing law, members of our profession are essential in advancing greatly needed pro-life protections. Looking globally, the United States has among the worst abortion laws. The U.S. is currently one of only nine nations that allow abortion after 14 weeks of gestation. Even among this group, however, the United States is one of the most permissive in its treatment of abortion, placing us in the shameful company of China, North Korea, and Canada, the only countries in the world that permit abortion for any reason after fetal viability.
Abortion rates are directly tied to the presence of pro-life laws, or lack thereof. Advancing pro-life laws on the state level has proven to be particularly effective in reducing abortion. In fact, a recent study demonstrated that, where a state enacted a parental involvement law (requiring the parental consent or notification of at least one parent before an abortion is performed on a minor), the abortion rates fall by an average of approximately 13.6 percent.
AUL has created over 40 pieces of model legislation to assist in state legislative efforts, available in our annual publication Defending Life. The AUL legal team also provides direct consultation with state legislators, local lobbyists, and attorneys interested in promoting such legislation.
Click here to read the whole article.
