How Every State Pro-Life Law Handles Ectopic Pregnancy and Miscarriage
Alexandra DeSanctis National Review
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion supporters have argued that state abortion limits aren’t clear about whether abortion in cases of ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage are permitted — and they have argued that, as a result of this supposed lack of clarity, doctors have declined to perform necessary and potentially life-saving procedures out of fear of reprisal from officials enforcing state pro-life laws.
This is simply not the case. If doctors are doing so — and abortion supporters have offered little evidence of a systemic problem in this regard — it is the fault of the doctors themselves, not the fault of the pro-life laws, which are eminently clear. The pro-life worldview has always held that both lives matter, that of the mother and that of her unborn child. It is always permissible to act to care for a pregnant mother whose life is at risk.
Below is the text of every significant state abortion limitation as it pertains to exceptions for medical emergencies. Though not every law explicitly names ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage management, each is perfectly clear in its definition of abortion and clear about leaving room for doctors to act in cases of medical emergency. It’s important to note that, while many laws do explicitly name these procedures, it is not necessary to do so in order for those types of treatment to remain legal.
Today, EPPC President Ryan T. Anderson a signatory of a coalition appeal letter made to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404) moving through Congress. This unnecessary bill’s sweeping language and its new and broad enforcement mechanisms threatens tens of millions of Americans who hold sincere and honorable beliefs about marriage, while laying the foundation for increased federal action and litigation against them. The letter’s signatories call for the rejection of H.R. 8404 and urge Congress to thoroughly abandon this harmful and unnecessary legislation.
EPPC is seeking a full-time Director of Communications to oversee all external communications via earned and owned media channels. This role requires strategic expertise to ensure that all communications efforts align with EPPC’s mission and advance our priorities, as well as the tactical skills to execute this work on a day-to-day basis. It also requires the ability to synthesize the variety of work produced by our many scholars and programs into a cohesive story that reinforces EPPC’s identity as an institution.
On July 22, 2022, EPPC Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow Mary Hasson outlined the threat same-sex marriage poses to religious freedom with Joseph Blackholm of Washington Watch.
EPPC Fellow Aaron Kheriaty, M.D. discussed the failures of mask mandates as they begin to spring up once more around the country on Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.
EPPC Policy Analyst Clare Morell was interviewed about what families can do to promote healthy relationships with technology in their children, ongoing litigation against Big Tech, and the effects of virtual culture on children's’ health as part of the Stacy on the Right show.
Clare also appeared on The Randy Tobler Show this weekend, discussing the dangers to children on social media and how these platforms work to normalize gender ideology and promote radical ideas about sexuality.
Bioethics professor Charles C. Camosy reviewed Ryan and Alexandra's new book, Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing for The Public Discourse and calls it "precisely the book the pro-life movement needs at this very moment". He discusses the book's role in the post-Dobbs pro-life movement and its call for leaders to accomplish the heavy lift for women's health and family life posed by the fall of Roe.
