ACLU on Pennsylvania Woman Jailed for Trying to Arrange an Abortion for Her Daughter

This story highlighted by the American Civil Liberties Union is really outrageous,

Earlier this month, a judge sentenced a Pennsylvania mother to up to a year and a half in prison for helping her 16-year-old daughter end a pregnancy by purchasing abortion medication online. The mother, who has a low-paying job, ordered the medication online because there was no health center that provides abortions nearby, and she lacked health insurance to pay for an abortion at a hospital. She was sentenced after pleading guilty to performing an illegal abortion.

. . .

Pennsylvania, where the family lives, has a law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to make an extra, medically unnecessary trip to the clinic before she can get an abortion. Just last week in Missouri, state legislators overrode a governor’s veto to institute a 3-day forced delay for abortion, even though Missouri voters clearly said they don’t want this law. The mandatory delay applies no matter how long a woman has considered her decision before coming to the health center. Now, a woman will have to wait 72 hours for an abortion, after talking to a healthcare professional, no matter how firm she is in her decision.

That such laws keep getting passed is just another example of how the pro-life movement is beating the pro-choice movement at the long game. (Hint: burying your head in the sand and crowing about winning the “cultural war” isn’t going to stop abortion clinics from continuing to close).

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