ACLJ Beats Planned Parenthood in Major Win

The ACLJ just scored a momentous victory over abortion giant Planned Parenthood in federal appeals court.

The State of South Dakota has been dedicated to defending innocent unborn babies for decades. In fact, this case is part of a battle that dates back to 2011. And then, as we told you just over one year ago, we agreed to represent South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in a monumental pro-life case:

[T]he ACLJ is going to be representing Governor Kristi Noem and the State of South Dakota in their battle against Planned Parenthood. Gov. Noem is trying to uphold a state law that requires counseling to be provided for women seeking abortion from a third-party pregnancy center in order to ensure the pregnant woman is truly informed on the abortion procedure before receiving one.

To be clear, the South Dakota law is . . . simply asking for a third party to give women more information about the procedure beforehand in order to let them make an informed choice. Why would Planned Parenthood be against that?

Last Friday we received news of this victory, which we reported on ACLJ.org:

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has just thrown out Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against a pro-life South Dakota law in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs, vacating a preliminary injunction that had prevented the law from going into effect.

This is a major win. We didn’t even have to make oral arguments in this case. We obtained a victory in a decade-plus legal battle in just over a year. And now while this case doesn’t completely outlaw abortion in the state, another state law banning abortions has gone into effect. (You can learn about this and the laws on abortion in all 50 states through our interactive map.)

As our own ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil explained, this victory would not have been possible without the prayer and steadfast support of ACLJ members who are committed to saving defenseless babies:

That is a great victory . . . .  and we do thank our supporters because we are in a battle against Planned Parenthood constantly. And they are very, very, very well-funded. And this was a case that, like you said, it went on over a decade, and we were brought in and appointed as special Assistant Attorneys General and were able to do the briefing and filings. And then the 8th Circuit got it right that said, you know, Dobbs has come down and therefore this third party counseling requirement, South Dakota definitely can do, so it’s a great win.

We told you after Dobbs, the war wasn’t over. The battle was just moving into the individual states. The radical Left worships at the altar of abortion, and wants to make Roe permanent in all 50 states, and beyond. We are hopeful that this victory in South Dakota is only the beginning, and that the rest of the country rejects the extreme abortion agenda.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more in-depth analysis of our victory for life in federal court, and what’s next for the ACLJ legal team in our nationwide battle to defend babies and eviscerate abortion on demand. We are also joined by ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss a number of pressing issues affecting all Americans.

Watch the full broadcast below: