{"id":233107,"date":"2020-10-19T15:15:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T20:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=233107"},"modified":"2020-10-18T22:38:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T03:38:25","slug":"prosecutors-refuse-criminalize-abortion-roe-overturned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutors-refuse-criminalize-abortion-roe-overturned\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors sign statement refusing to ‘criminalize healthcare’ if Roe v. Wade is overturned"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A group of elected prosecutors has released a statement saying they will not prosecute those who commit illegal\u00a0abortions<\/a>\u00a0in their states should Roe v. Wade<\/em> ever be overturned.<\/p>\n

As previously explained by Live Action News<\/a>, Roe v. Wade<\/em> made abortion a federal right in 1973 \u2014 but prior to that, it had been legalized in almost 20 individual states. If\u00a0Roe<\/em> were overturned, abortion would not become illegal throughout the entire United States; rather, as it was before Roe<\/em>, each individual state would have its own laws regarding abortion. With Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s\u00a0nomination for the Supreme Court<\/a>, many are now concerned that the repeal of Roe<\/em> is a possibility.<\/p>\n

In response, the prosecutors signed a joint statement blasting pro-life laws passed in states across the country, specifically mentioning Tennessee, Idaho, Utah, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Arkansas. Citing the “right to privacy” used to pass Roe<\/em>, the prosecutors tried to make the argument that their oaths to uphold the Constitution require them to defend abortion. Yet it has been widely accepted<\/a> \u2014 including by the late Justice\u00a0Ruth Bader Ginsburg<\/a> herself \u2014 that Roe<\/em> was poorly decided.<\/p>\n