Matthew 19:18 ESV “And Jesus said, “You shall not murder…”
Editor’s Note: Throughout the scriptures, God has made it clear that shedding innocent blood is murder, and no murderer will enter heaven. In addition to the death of the unborn baby, abortion also substantially harms the women and many times, families, husbands, boyfriends and a whole sphere of relationships connected to and surrounding each abortion. Often, lifelong guilt and other social, relational, spiritual and even physical problems follow the murder of innocent babes in the womb. Pastor Jim Bakker believes that this issue, abortion, may be the single most significant issue that brings God’s judgment on this nation more than any other.
A North Carolina abortion law that would have required women to see an ultrasound of their baby before having an abortion has officially been declared unconstitutional as the Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling.
The Women’s Right to Know Act was passed in 2011 and immediately challenged by pro-abortion activists and groups. The law required the abortionist to show the ultrasound to the woman and describe to her the child’s features along with offering a chance to hear the baby’s heartbeat. The law also included a 24 hour mandatory waiting period.
The rejection by the Supremes means the Fourth Circuit’s ruling invalidates the law.
“This compelled speech, even though it is a regulation of the medical profession, is ideological in intent and in kind,” the panel wrote. “The First Amendment not only protects against prohibitions of speech, but also against regulations that compel speech. A regulation compelling speech is by its very nature content-based, because it requires the speaker to change the content of his speech or even to say something where he would otherwise be silent.”
“Moreover, the statement compelled here is ideological; it conveys a particular opinion,” it continued. “The state freely admits that the purpose … is to convince women seeking abortions to change their minds or reassess their decisions.”
Supporters of the law say that they can’t understand why abortion is the only medical procedure in the state where doctors don’t have to tell the patient what can happen during the procedure.
“In any other medical procedure, doctors would have a duty to disclose all of the relevant information, and, yet, a procedure as destructive and life-changing as abortion is held to a lower standard,” Tami Fitzgerald of the North Carolina Values Coalition told reporters.
“We’re disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to review a decision that denies mothers this fully informed consent about human life in the womb and the methods abortionists use to end it,” also commented Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Legal Counsel Steven Aden in a statement. “Contrary to the 4th Circuit’s decision, there is nothing ‘extreme’ about a measure that only seeks to require abortionists to employ technology they are already using for abortions. Abortionists simply don’t want to use it in a way that jeopardizes their profits and shows women the truth.”
