Republicans unveil spate of abortion laws during March For Life rally

Republicans in Congress introduced a barrage of anti-abortion legislation on Friday as crowds of rally-goers gathered for the March 50 for Life rally — the first rally since the Supreme Court was overthrown Roe v. calf– in Washington D.C

GOP lawmakers on Friday introduced three new bills aimed at restricting access to abortion in both the House and Senate. One targets the use of telemedicine for abortion pills, the second prevents abortion of babies with Down syndrome, and the third targets higher education institutions that provide abortion services to students. The first two bills would establish criminal penalties for abortion providers.

After last summer Dobbs Decision, Republicans across the country have rushed to pass legislation that would limit access to abortion services while Democrats have scrambled to codify abortion rights.

Friday would have been the 50th anniversary of the landmark ruling in Roe had the conservative majority of SCOTUS not ended the federal constitutional right to abortion last year.

Despite these rights being rolled back, anti-abortion advocates have continued to descend on the country’s capital this year to take a look at the movement’s “next steps”. The theme of this year’s rally is “Next Steps: Marching Forward Toward a Post-Roe America.”

“Abortion is always wrong under any circumstances, but allowing women to have chemical abortions alone without ever being physically examined is absolutely dangerous,” said Rep. Bob Good, who introduced the Teleabortion Prevention Act aimed at reducing prescription to cut back on abortion pills. tweeted on Friday.

The bill, co-sponsored by 25 of Good’s Republican colleagues, would require those seeking an abortion pill to undergo a physical exam, take the pill at the clinic and attend a follow-up visit.

A provider who fails to meet the requirements may be fined and/or imprisoned for up to two years, but patients will not be prosecuted. It provides exceptions when the mother’s life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, injury or condition.

According to a 2020 analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion pill accounts for more than half (53 percent) of all abortions in the United States. In 2017, the pill accounted for just 37 percent of all abortions.

Republican-led anti-abortion legislation has been rebuffed by Democrats and even some GOP lawmakers, who warn their peers that their legislation falls outside the scope of what the American people, namely GOP voters, want.

Speaking on MSNBC earlier this month, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace said, “If we’re serious about saving lives… we need to have legislation that passes a Democrat-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.” “like providing access to birth control.

“We’re running to the edge,” Mace said. “I just have a colleague in the House of Representatives who wants to introduce a bill that would ban all abortions without exception. What are we doing here? That’s not the 90% of the country. Especially the Republicans.”

Also on Friday, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Chip Roy introduced the College Campus Life Protection Act and the Persons With Down Syndrome Protection Act in their respective chambers.

The first law would ban higher education institutions that house or are affiliated with abortion clinics for students or faculty members from receiving federal funding.

“College residence is not a place to perform your own abortion, and the American taxpayer should not be paying for the destruction of innocent human life on our college campus,” Roy told The Daily Signal.

The Brookings Institute has warned that repealing abortion laws would create several new challenges for colleges and universities, including the services offered on campus.

While data on student abortions is scarce, the institute estimates that, based on demographically adjusted abortion rates, about 300 to 500 students at California public universities abort on the pill each month. This prognosis is even higher for community college students, whose rate ranges from 800 to 1,000 per month.

“Every life is created with God-given dignity and potential – no matter how small or how many chromosomes it is.” Daines tweeted. “I will always fight to protect young mothers and their unborn children from the violence of abortion.”

The Persons With Down Syndrome Protection Act would make it illegal for a doctor to knowingly perform an abortion sought because a baby may have Down Syndrome, which results from a chromosomal abnormality, and prohibit anyone who has Mother of such a baby to force an abortion because of the genetic disorder.

A person breaking the law would be fined and/or imprisoned for up to five years, but the mother would not be prosecuted.

Although there are no official figures on how many abortions are performed due to a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, a 2012 medical study put the rate at 67 percent. According to the National Down Syndrome Society, about one in 700 babies in the United States is born with the condition.