(trigger warning for abortion, birth, pregnancy, miscarriage and forced birth)

This is just unbelievably sad. Arizona has now banned abortions after 20 weeks since the pregnant person’s last period. And as usual, the main people who get late-term abortions — people who will not have a healthy baby and mom when it’s all over — are the victims.

Via thinkprogress:

MISS Foundation and Embrace are non-profits specifically working to develop birth plans for such families, provide counseling, and prepare funeral services. The Legislature has allocated no funding for these services, which are expected to kick into high demand once the abortion ban goes into effect.

About 100 pregnancies are terminated after 20 weeks in Arizona each year. According to Joanne Cacciatore, the CEO of MISS Foundation, one or two families a month currently seek their help preparing for a fatal birth. But they expect their resources to be stretched past maximum capacity soon. Cacciatore said:

This law may have intended to do good, but it can really adversely affect non-profit organizations that desperately want to help people but maybe can’t help the number of people who now come to us. We are already stretched very, very thin. I don’t know where this money would come from. […] They’re finding us on their own. I don’t know what will happen when the Legislature opens this up.

So: no babies are saved, the mothers’ lives are put at risk, and their insurance carriers have to bear the cost of a dangerous labor and delivery (not to mention ongoing prenatal care). Tell me again who this benefits? Oh, right, self-righteous pro-lifers who can pat themselves on the back for saving the precious babies from their grieving mothers.