PHOENIX, AZ (Catholic Online) - The new law will save children by eliminating the "choice" to take children from the womb by force after 20 weeks of pregnancy and kill them by abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union is still trying to fight the law, on the grounds that previous rulings forbid the banning of abortion during the period which a child is not "viable" outside of the womb. 

According to the ACLU, that period is around 22-23 weeks. The previous ruling is derived from the 1992 Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey. 

US District Judge James A. Teilborg wisely denied the ACLU claim because the law is not an actual ban on abortion, but rather a restriction on the practice. 

"H.B. 2036 does not purport to ban all abortions past 20 weeks gestational age. Further, the statute allows for abortions up to and including 20 weeks gestational age. As such, H.B. 2036 is not a ban on previability abortions, but is rather a limit on some pre-viability abortions between 20 weeks gestational age and viability," Teilborg wrote in his decision. 

The ACLU is appealing the ruling. Such an appeal, if it makes its way to the Supreme Court, could finally give power back to the people and legislatures of states who do not want abortion-on-demand services to be made freely available for use as birth control or for other reasons. 

A life-affirming ruling, while not ending the horrors of abortion, could still limit them by protecting all babies after the 20th week of pregnancy. And while 20 weeks is still a lengthy gauntlet for a baby carried by a hostile mother, it is a lot better than the status quo.

The law takes effect on August 2. 

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