A heartbeat for life

Richard A. Sokerka

As Mother’s Day approaches in the month of May dedicated to the Blessed Mother, there’s a heartbeat for life in the womb, at least in Iowa.

The state legislature early last week passed the “fetal heartbeat” bill. On Friday, Iowa’s governor, Republican Kim Reynolds, signed the legislation into law. It prohibits nearly all abortions in the state after a fetal heartbeat is detected, making it the strongest abortion ban in the nation.

The law requires any women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound to determine whether a fetal heartbeat can be detected, a milestone usually detected in the sixth week of pregnancy. If a heartbeat is detected, a physician cannot perform an abortion. The law does make some exceptions for pregnancies conceived through rape or incest.

Bishop Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, said the law banning abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat “affirms the life-giving intent of the state’s pro-life efforts.”

At the ceremony to sign the legislation into law, Gov. Reynolds said, “I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred, and as governor, I pledge to do everything in my power to protect it. That is what I am doing today.”

Here in New Jersey, the polar opposite has happened under Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, whose very first act as governor was to sign legislation that restored $7.5 million in grants for health clinics and Planned Parenthood, which had been deleted from the state’s budget since 2010 under Republican Gov. Chris Christie. At the signing ceremony, Murphy said, “New Jersey will once again stand strong for Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights issues.”

During this month in which we honor all mothers and in a very special way the Blessed Mother, let us all lift our hearts in constant prayer to the Mother of God that through her intercession here in New Jersey the hardened hearts of all our elected officials will hear the heartbeat of life in the womb and act as the lawmakers in Iowa did.