A Court Just Rejected the NAACP's Challenge to This Arizona Law

Last week BCN blogged about the NAACP’s mission to revive its lawsuit against Arizona for enacting a law that bars race- and sex-based abortions. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to reinstate the lawsuit. From the Arizona Republic:

The panel…ruled that the NAACP’s Maricopa County branch and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum lack standing to sue. The ruling upholds a judge’s 2013 decision dismissing the case filed by the groups.

The law’s opponents claim it stigmatizes black and Asian women and singles them out. Blacks account for at least 30 percent of abortions in the U.S.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADA) filed a brief in the case. Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden said, “Preserving the life of all babies, regardless of their sex or race, should be everyone’s priority. Sadly, it wasn’t for the ACLU and the NAACP, but the 9th Circuit has rightly upheld the district court’s decision to dismiss their lawsuit. Nothing about an abortion committed on the basis of sex or race is medically necessary or constitutionally protected.”

Do you believe laws against race- and sex-based abortions save lives?

Photo credit: Elvert Barnes (Creative Commons) – Some Rights Reserved