CV NEWS FEED // Several Maryland senators are pushing for bills allocating some $1 million towards increasing abortion facility security, and a pro-life leader responded by calling for equal protection of often-targeted pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.
Sen. Ariana B. Kelly (D-Montgomery) is sponsoring SB 947, called the Abortion Care Access Grant Program and Fund, which expands “access to abortion care services for individuals in the State,” and requires “certain premium funds collected by health insurance carriers be used to provide certain coverage and to support improving access to abortion care services under certain circumstances.”
The Maryland Department of Health would administer the $1 million allocated towards the fund and grants. If passed, the bill would go into effect in October.
“It would create a grant that improves access to abortion care. So grants for security, equipment, capital improvements, for security staffing,” Kelly stated, according to Maryland Matters.
Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) is sponsoring a similar abortion facility protection bill, SB 975, called the Reproductive Health Care Clinic Security Grant Program.
The Maryland Office of Crime Prevention and Policy would allocate $500,000 towards the bill, to help cover “costs associated with security improvements and safety operational expenses,” according to the bill’s description. Like SB 947, the bill would go into effect in October if passed.
On March 6, Maryland Right to Life Executive Director Laura Bogley testified to the state’s Senate Finance Committee against SB 975 and called for equal protection for pro-life centers.
“Bill proponents are attempting to destroy reality and manufacture a crisis in order to extort additional tax-payer funding to further enrich the multi-million dollar abortion industry,” Bogley said to the Committee, according to Maryland Matters.
“Bogley argued that if the General Assembly were to provide funds to bolster security for abortion clinics, the state ‘must provide equal protection under the law for pro-life citizens as well and provide equal accommodations for women who choose life,’” Maryland Matters reported.
Jakeya Johnson, a spokesperson for Reproductive Justice Maryland, claimed that SB 947 is justified because abortion clinics are “targets for harassment and violence, and an atmosphere of fear and insecurity for both patients and providers.”
Across the United States, pro-life advocates pray and protest on the sidewalks across from abortion facilities. Some pro-life advocates also offer counseling to women entering the facility.
Several of these pro-life advocates and protestors have been arrested – and some are facing up to 11 years in prison – on charges of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The most recent recorded case of vandalism against a Maryland abortion facility occurred in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
From June of 2022 to January of 2024, pro-abortion activists have vandalized at least 88 pro-life pregnancy resource centers across the United States. Three of the attacked pro-life pregnancy centers are located in Maryland.
