{"id":258235,"date":"2021-12-02T18:40:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T00:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=258235"},"modified":"2021-12-06T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T17:57:11","slug":"pivotal-abortion-case-supreme-court-justices-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pivotal-abortion-case-supreme-court-justices-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Pivotal case leads Supreme Court justices to ask tough questions of abortion advocates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em>, the case the centers around Mississippi’s law restricting abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. While pro-life activists rallied outside, the justices asked multiple questions which signaled the possibility that at least some of them are seriously considering allowing the pro-life law to stand. Doing so would not criminalize abortion, but could upend the 1973\u00a0Roe v. Wade\/Doe v. Bolton<\/em>\u00a0and 1992\u00a0Planned Parenthood v. Casey<\/em> decisions that respectively legalized abortion until birth and prohibited states from restricting abortion\u00a0prior to the arbitrary age of “viability”<\/a>. So-called viability is believed to be at about 24 weeks, though babies born as young as 21 weeks have survived.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice John Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief Justice Roberts zeroed in<\/a> on the issue at hand \u2014\u00a0“viability” \u2014\u00a0and whether states have the right to restrict abortion prior to this subjective point in pregnancy. As abortionists have admitted, the term “viability” is used very loosely, with some claiming<\/a> that certain babies are never<\/em> viable.<\/p>\n

“Viability, it seems to me, has nothing to do with choice,” said Roberts. “But if it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time? That’s not a dramatic departure from viability.”<\/p>\n

Children born as young as 21 weeks have survived outside the womb, and 15 weeks falls just six weeks prior to that. But the truth is that every<\/em> preborn child is viable when left alone to grow and develop in the natural environment of her mother’s womb.<\/p>\n

Julie Rikelman, Senior Director for the Center for Reproductive Rights and the attorney representing the sole abortion facility in Mississippi (Jackson Women’s Health Organization), told Roberts, “The state has conceded that some women will not be able to obtain an abortion before 15 weeks and this law will bar them from doing so.”<\/p>\n

Which women is Rikelman speaking of? The law allows exceptions for a risk to the mother’s health and for preborn babies who receive a life-threatening diagnosis. Though there are serious flaws with these unnecessary exceptions (see here<\/a> and here<\/a>), these exceptions do exist in the law \u2014\u00a0which means that Rikelman is speaking of women whose children have either received a non<\/em>-life-threatening diagnosis, or of women who were unaware of their pregnancies (or in denial) until after 15 weeks.<\/p>\n

Justice Clarence Thomas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justice Thomas pointed out that there is no right to abortion to be found in the Constitution. It doesn’t exist. No one has the right to kill another innocent human being for any reason.<\/p>\n

“Would you specifically tell me, specifically state, what the right is? Is it specifically abortion? Is it liberty? Is it autonomy? Is it privacy?\u201d asked<\/a> Justice Thomas.<\/p>\n

He later stated, “I understand we are talking about abortion here. But what is confusing is that we \u2014 if we were talking about the Second Amendment, I know exactly what we are talking about. If we\u2019re talking about the Fourth Amendment, I know what we\u2019re talking about because it\u2019s written. It is there. What specifically is the right here that we are talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Samuel Alito<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justice Alito pointed out<\/a> that the line of viability is “arbitrary.”<\/p>\n

“If a woman wants to be free of the burdens of pregnancy, that interest does not disappear the moment the viability line is crossed,” he said, adding, “The fetus has an interest in having a life, and that doesn\u2019t change from the point before viability and after viability.\u201d<\/p>\n

This “arbitrary” point of viability isn’t a moment science points to as the beginning of life. Scientists and doctors have repeatedly stated that life begins at the moment of fertilization<\/a>. Labeling a human being as “viable” or “non-viable” does not change their humanity or the fact that they are humans worthy of life and deserving of protection.<\/p>\n