ACLJ Urges Supreme Court To Reject Pro-Abortion Claim That Abortion Is Safe & Demand Safety Standards For Abortion Clinics

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) today filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject arguments by the pro-abortion lobby that abortion is safe for women, contending that "the evidence strongly suggests that abortion is more dangerous, not less, than childbirth."

In representing more than 156,000 Americans, the ACLJ brief argues that "abortion is a procedure fraught with hazards" and the Supreme Court should uphold the decision of a federal appeals court requiring abortion clinics in Texas to implement common-sense safety standards for abortions.

"There's been a coordinated campaign for years to convince the American people that childbirth is more dangerous to a woman than getting an abortion," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "The assertion is not only inaccurate, it is patently false. The evidence is clear: there is ample reason to believe that abortion is detrimental to maternal health and, if anything, more likely to lead to death or other adverse consequences than is continuing the pregnancy. We're asking the Supreme Court to reject the false narrative of the pro-abortion industry and require common-sense safety standards to be put in place to protect women."

In the case of Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, the ACLJ amicus brief urges the high court to reject the argument put forth by the pro-abortion lobby:

"Abortion is a procedure fraught with hazards. This Court should reject any assertion that abortion is healthy for women, much less some sort of panacea. There is good reason to believe precisely the contrary."

The ACLJ amicus brief, posted here, provides detailed examples of why abortion is so dangerous.

"No one expects to see an ambulance pulling away from a dermatology or dental office," the brief contends. "Yet ambulances are a frequent sight at abortion facilities. This sorry fact is just one of many that belie the abortion industry myth that abortion is safe and routine, even safer than childbirth."

In addition to the more than 156,000 Americans represented in the brief, several other pro-life organizations have signed on to the ACLJ brief including the Family Research Council, the Texas Conservative Coalition, and The Houston Coalition for Life, which owns and operates a mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center which provides free sonogram services to expectant mothers.

The brief also contends that the pro-abortion industry – which brought the lawsuit against Texas and is now appealing the case to the Supreme Court – has a conflict of interest:

"As providers of abortion for a fee, petitioners have an obvious conflict of interest in purporting to represent the rights of their patients in a challenge to the laws here, which are essentially consumer protection laws. Women have an interest in reasonable, patient-protective safety measures. Providers, by contrast, have an interest in opposing any regulation that cuts into their volume of business or net profits. The sellers have little or no incentive fairly to assert interests that make their ultimate sales less likely or less profitable."

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on March 2^nd with a decision by the high court expected by the end of June.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law & Justice focuses on constitutional law, religious liberty, and pro-life issues and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and online at aclj.org.

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SOURCE American Center for Law and Justice

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