Victory: Federal Judge Rules Life Begins at Conception

Tom Ciesielka : Jun 30, 2011
Thomas More Society

"We stand ready to defend Life in other states as they plan to defund Planned Parenthood and require doctors to tell women that life begins at conception." -Tom Brejcha

(Chicago, Ill.)—This past Friday, Planned Parenthood's request to block a provision of an Indiana law that requires doctors to tell women who are seeking abortions that "human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm" was denied by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.

Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, says this is a victory for Life: "We are pleased that Judge Pratt has upheld the concept that life begins at conception."

Last month, the Thomas More Society filed a "friend of the Court" brief for Indiana legislators in defense of Indiana's law that denied state funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers and mandated that abortion providers inform women that "human physical life" begins with fertilization. Indiana is the first state to attempt to defund abortion providers.

"While this is a significant partial victory for Life, we will press on to ensure that the full law will go into effect to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana," Brejcha said. "We stand ready to defend Life in other states as they plan to defund Planned Parenthood and require doctors to tell women that life begins at conception."