Maryland's War on Life
Earlier this month we informed you about several radical abortion bills that the Maryland legislature is trying to pass. The first was House Bill 1171. As we informed you, this bill proposes an amendment to the Maryland constitution to create a state constitutional right to abortion – essentially making Roe v. Wade’s judicially created “right” to abortion permanent in the state, even if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe. Unsurprisingly, the pro-abortion majority in the House adopted the bill and referred it to the Senate Finance Committee.
The next bill we told you about is Senate Bill 669, which proposed an amendment to Maryland’s criminal code that would handcuff the investigations of infant deaths unrelated to abortion – effectively legalizing infanticide – up to 28 days AFTER a baby is born. After being directly confronted with the same information we presented to all of you, Senator Smith, the sponsor of the bill, pulled it from a scheduled committee hearing.
But the fight is far from over. On Friday, March 11th, I testified against an identical Maryland House Bill. That bill – House Bill 626 – is currently awaiting a vote by the same Committee that passed H.B. 1171 and allowed it to receive a whole House vote and be sent on to the Senate. We have no reason to believe that the Committee won’t do the same thing with H.B. 626, providing an alternate route for the Senate to receive and vote on this radical infanticide bill. It’s critical to keep the pressure up to defeat these bills.
Over the past few weeks, our advocacy has made a difference, and this is in large part due to the action that all of you have taken. Now is not the time to let up – we must fiercely continue to pressure the Maryland Senate to kill House Bill 1171, Senate Bill 669, and House Bill 626 as the lives of innocent babies – preborn and born – are at stake.
The Senate Finance Committee will soon hold a hearing on H.B. 1171, and is expected to vote in favor of the bill. This bill is incredibly concerning because it would make Roe v. Wade permanently enshrined in the state’s constitution, even if the Supreme Court overturns all or part of Roe in the pending Dobbs case. As we stated in our written testimony opposing it:
House Bill 1171 goes far beyond simply attempting to codify the (erroneous) decisions of Roe and Casey. It incorporates “strict scrutiny” for abortion claims in a manner that will have a deleterious effect on a host of other laws, and neglects the balancing pursued by the Court.
Moreover, “House Bill 1171 contains no saving provisions for already existing laws. [And, t]here is a long list of laws that would likely be struck down, without notice to the public, by this proposed legislation.” Maryland voters would have no notice of the effect that this proposed amendment could have on pro-life laws already in place. In fact, during oral testimony, when asked what affect the bill would have on already existing law, supporters of the bill basically stated “we’ll have to pass it, and then litigate it.” Clearly, they have no regard for the Maryland taxpayer dollars that would be used to fund that litigation.
We are preparing to submit written testimony to the relevant Senate committee against this dreadful bill. It is crucial that Maryland residents understand what their legislators are trying to do – and voice their opposition. We need to defeat this bill before it becomes a state ballot issue.
We continue our fight against these bills, and are prepared to take any action we can to stop them. And we aren’t stopping with our work in Maryland. We have a team specifically working to engage in this battle in states all across the United States. Abortion advocates are unified, strategic, and devious. But, when evil is exposed, it loses its power. Our work is to shed light on the evil agenda of abortionists in order to defeat it.
You can continue to fight with us. If you know of any radical abortion bills being pushed in your state, let us know by filling out our Legal Help form. And continue to call, write, and email the senators in Maryland, letting them know to oppose House Bill 1171, Senate Bill 669, and House Bill 626.
UPDATE 3.29.2022: We have just submitted written testimony to the Maryland Senate Finance Committee against H.B. 1171 and its attempt to make Roe permanent.