Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

March 2015 – A bill introduced in the Missouri legislature on January 7, would require written, notarized consent from the father of an unborn child before the mother could obtain an abortion. The bill also states that 72 hours before an abortion, doctors must provide information about the unborn child, abortion alternatives, and possible negative consequences. Rick Brattin [R-MO], who introduced the bill, said, “We have taken away a man’s right and his say in his child’s life. The way it is now, the woman gets full say and the father gets none.”

More than 20 similar regulations and restrictions on abortion enacted in 2014 have led to the closure of 73 abortion facilities. Operation Rescue reported that the abortion rate declined significantly in areas where facilities had closed. The abortion rate nationwide is 14% lower than it was in 2002, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Compared to the 2,176 surgical abortion facilities operating in 1991, there were only 551 surgical abortion facilities open by the end of 2014. This means that since 1991, 75% of those abortion facilities have closed, of which 23% closed within the past five years.

mashable.com, 12/19/14; worldmag.com, 1/2/15; operationrescue.org, 12/29/14