Arizona Supreme Court upholds law protecting life throughout pregnancy
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=275031&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The State Supreme Court building in Phoenix. / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 9, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a law protecting unborn life from abortion beginning at conception can soon take effect. The court ruled that state law does not guarantee a right to an abortion and that an 1864 law prohibiting all abortions can take effect in 14 days, pending any further constitutional challenges.The 1864 law allows for exceptions in cases in which the mother's life is in danger but does not grant exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The 4-2 decision issued Tuesday found that the Arizona Constitution "does not create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority" for abortion and that any guarantees to a right to abortion in the state were predicated on the now overturned Roe v. Wade precedent."To date, our Legislature has never affirmatively created a right to, or independently a...
The State Supreme Court building in Phoenix. / Credit: Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 9, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a law protecting unborn life from abortion beginning at conception can soon take effect.
The court ruled that state law does not guarantee a right to an abortion and that an 1864 law prohibiting all abortions can take effect in 14 days, pending any further constitutional challenges.
The 1864 law allows for exceptions in cases in which the mother's life is in danger but does not grant exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
The 4-2 decision issued Tuesday found that the Arizona Constitution "does not create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority" for abortion and that any guarantees to a right to abortion in the state were predicated on the now overturned Roe v. Wade precedent.
"To date, our Legislature has never affirmatively created a right to, or independently authorized, elective abortion. We defer, as we are constitutionally obligated to do, to the Legislature's judgment, which is accountable to, and thus reflects, the mutable will of our citizens," the ruling said.
"The Legislature has demonstrated its consistent design to restrict elective abortion to the degree permitted by the Supremacy Clause and an unwavering intent since 1864 to proscribe elective abortions absent a federal constitutional right."
The decision negates a lower court's ruling that a 15-week abortion limit passed by the Legislature in 2022 voided the 1864 law.
There is a 14-day stay on the enforcement of the law.
This means that the law protecting life from conception remains blocked for now but could go into effect in a few weeks.
A new constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion will likely be on the ballot in Arizona this November. Arizona for Abortion Access PAC has filed language with the Secretary of State that could result in a vote on abortion in 2024. On April 3, the group surpassed the required number of signatures to get their initiative on the November ballot. The secretary of state's office has yet to verify the signatures which must happen before the initiative will officially be on the ballot.
If this abortion amendment passes it would likely overrule today's decision, invalidating most of the state's pro-life laws.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275563&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275562&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275559&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis meets with 300 priests taking part in the World Meeting of Parish Priests on May 2, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 12:41 pm (CNA).Pope Francis published a letter on Thursday addressed to all parish priests in the world with his advice for building a missionary Church in which all the baptized share in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel."Parish communities increasingly need to become places from which the baptized set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, in order to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness," Pope Francis wrote in the letter published on May 2.The pope presented the letter to 300 priests participating in the Synod on Synodality's "World Meeting of Parish Priests" during an audience at the Vatican, saying that their meeting is "an opportunity to remember in my prayers all of the parish priests in the world to whom I address these words with great affection."P...