A relatively small group of 64 prosecutors across the country issued a statement on Wednesday vowing not to enforce laws that put any kind of restrictions on abortion.
The statement comes as the United States Senate is in the process of confirming Amy Coney Barrett as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, which Democrats and leftists say would result in the overturning of the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to make abortion on demand the law of the land that has resulted in more than 50 million babies being aborted.
The vow to not enforce the laws they were sworn to uphold also comes as an increasing number of states have enacted laws to restrict some abortion procedures, including abortions after 20 weeks — when babies can feel pain — and late-term abortions.
The leftist Radio Pacific reported on the statement:
The group said their statement was partly prompted by rising concerns over the passage of laws in recent years in at least a dozen states that they say impose broad restrictions on abortion and are “ambiguous or silent as to whom they would hold criminally responsible.” Under the laws, patients, medical professionals and health care providers could possibly be criminally charged and imprisoned if the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision giving women the Constitutional right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction is struck down.
In fact, if Roe v. Wade were to be struck down, it would not make abortion illegal but return the power of making abortion laws to the states, as Breitbart News has reported.
Signatories to the statement include California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Our commitment to not prosecute women who obtain abortions and health care professionals who provide treatment is not predicated on these concerns alone – and, indeed, would hold even if the protections of Roe v. Wade were to be eroded or overturned,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
The statement continued:
Not all of us agree on a personal or moral level on the issue of abortion. And not all of us are in states where women’s rights are threatened by statutes criminalizing abortion. What brings us together is our view that as prosecutors we should not and will not criminalize healthcare decisions such as these – and we believe it is our obligation as elected prosecutors charged with protecting the health and safety of all members of our community to make our views clear.
Miriam Krinsky, executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, which organized the joint statement, said in the Radio Pacific report:
Elected prosecutors are entrusted with immense discretion to protect the well-being and safety of everyone in their community and to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. In this time of crisis — when so many in our community are grappling with the challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, and tremendous uncertainty — elected prosecutors have the opportunity to lead and to offer peace of mind to women and health care professionals who might otherwise be placed in the untenable position of choosing between the exercise of personal health care choices and the threat of criminal prosecution.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on how the far-left legislators in California have already put in place laws to codify Roe v. Wade in the state.
“California and several other states have passed their own laws protecting reproductive decisions, meaning abortion would remain legal if Roe vs. Wade were overturned,” the Chronicle reported.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.