Are They Afraid To Lose? Planned Parenthood Inexplicably Drops Lawsuit Against Pro-Life Arizona Law

On November 3rd, Planned Parenthood of Arizona (PPAZ) inexplicably filed in court to dismiss a lawsuit it had previously filed in 2019, which targeted some of Arizona’s pro-life regulations on abortion.

In the complaint, filed April 11, 2019, PPAZ challenged Arizona statutes and rules that prohibit anyone other than a licensed physician from performing abortions, require a 24-hour waiting period and some State-mandated counseling for women before they can get an abortion, and place a ban on the use of telemedicine to provide abortion services.

Also, according to its complaint, Planned Parenthood alleged that the challenged laws “led to the closure of four PPAZ health centers,” “forced PPAZ to reduce or eliminate abortion services at other clinics as well,” and led to “PPAZ provid[ing] approximately 40% fewer abortions than it provided in 2011.” Moreover, Bryan Howard, president of PPAZ stated that the “cumulative result [of the abortion restrictions] is that the number of abortions performed dropped from between 9,000 and 10,000 a year a dozen years ago to fewer than 6,500 when the lawsuit was filed in 2019.”

The lawsuit was proceeding in typical fashion until last week when PPAZ filed to have the case dismissed without prejudice. According to news sources, “[n]o one from Planned Parenthood of Arizona, which promoted its filing of the 2019 lawsuit, would explain the decision to drop the case.” However, the move to drop the lawsuit followed shortly after the president of PPAZ retired at the end of October, and the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

While PPAZ’s ultimate purpose in dismissing the lawsuit is unclear, this news should be celebrated as a win for the pro-life movement. With the Arizona laws clear from challenges, they can be fully enforced. And, as Planned Parenthood has clearly indicated for us, the purpose of Arizona’s laws – to save the lives of innocent unborn babies – is working.

There is still much work to be done in the effort to make abortion and the killing of innocent babies in the womb not only illegal, but unthinkable, and we continue to engage in that work every day.