{"id":39954,"date":"2013-08-28T04:18:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T08:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=39954"},"modified":"2013-08-28T01:55:14","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T05:55:14","slug":"now-unethical-pretend-constitution-protects-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/now-unethical-pretend-constitution-protects-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"So now it’s “unethical” to not pretend the Constitution protects abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\"united-states-constitution\"It never ceases to amaze what passes for \u201cqualified\u201d among pro-aborts. A couple weeks ago, we marveled<\/a> at how an alleged \u201csenior legal analyst\u201d could, with a straight face, defend an Ohio law which even the American Civil Liberties Union recognized was an unconstitutional infringement upon a pro-life organization\u2019s free speech rights. And today, RH Reality Check\u2019s Jessica Pieklo has more mangling<\/a> of the Constitution for us to facepalm at.<\/p>\n

Noting that Idaho, North Dakota, and Alabama have found themselves saddled with legal fees for defending democratically-enacted pro-life laws from judicial disenfranchisement attempts (not that she puts it quite<\/em> that way), Pieklo asks, \u201cat what point is it unethical for states to defend blatantly unconstitutional abortion restrictions?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to the AP report, the attorney general\u2019s office warned lawmakers that a pre-viability ban was unconstitutional, but lawmakers passed it anyway. Now, it\u2019s the job of the attorney general to defend state law, but attorneys also have a corresponding ethical obligation to not advance frivolous claims or defenses. Rule 3.1 of the Idaho Rules of Professional Responsibility<\/a> dictates that \u201c[A] lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, medication, or reversal of existing law.\u201d The rule is designed to give attorneys enough room to creatively advocate on behalf of their clients while preserving the basic compromise that is supposed to form the foundation of all litigation: attorneys can advocate zealously, but they must do so in good faith.<\/p>\n

In McCormack\u2019s case, state attorneys argue they didn\u2019t violate any ethical obligation, because instead of arguing over the merits of the so-called fetal pain law their defense strategy was to challenge McCormack and her attorney on standing, the procedural requirement that allows an individual to bring a claim. But that\u2019s a smoke-and-mirrors argument that maybe meets the low bar for ethical clearance set by Rule 3.1 but arguably violates its spirit. McCormack challenged Idaho\u2019s pre-viability ban and has been successful, for now, in getting the law blocked. And while that challenge was at times wrapped up with McCormack\u2019s other, more visible challenge to the constitutionality of the state\u2019s illegal abortion statute, the court did eventually rule on the constitutionality of the state\u2019s pre-viability ban. That means the substance and merits of the law was before the court, and the attorney\u2019s general office can\u2019t claim their strategy of initially avoiding the merits of the law in favor of a stronger, procedural argument did not function as a defense of that law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, that\u2019s all very interesting, but beside the point. Pieklo\u2019s whole detour into frivolous claim rules and procedural vs. merit arguments relies on her entirely unsupported presupposition that the disputed laws are unconstitutional. If the Constitution actually guaranteed a right to kill unborn babies, she might have a point. But because that assumed \u201cright\u201d is so spectacularly baseless<\/a> that numerous pro-aborts with far better legal credentials than hers admit it<\/a>, the vast majority of her post is a big, fat non-sequitur.<\/p>\n

So to answer the question, the point at which it\u2019s unethical for states to defend blatantly unconstitutional laws is when those laws actually are<\/em> unconstitutional. And if they\u2019re not, a bunch of agenda-driven judges, lawyers, and pundits claiming otherwise means nothing. They, not the states, are the ones whose ethics need questioning.<\/p>\n

The only mode of constitutional interpretation that would give Roe v. Wade<\/em> even the appearance of legal substance is \u201cLiving Constitution\u201d theory\u2014which is itself a sham founded on the overt goal<\/a> of overcoming the Constitution\u2019s barriers to Progressive objectives, and clearly contradicts the very purpose of having a written constitution in the first place.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not news that a pro-abortion zealot would falsely claim the Constitution protects abortion in any way, shape, or form. It is notable, however, that despite her status as \u201csenior legal analyst,\u201d Pieklo doesn’t even feel obliged to attempt an argument for Roe\u2019s<\/em> merit or mention that the linchpin of her complaint isn’t exactly the unquestionable truth she needs it to be. (Admittedly, it\u2019s hard to cite clauses of the Constitution that don\u2019t exist.)<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: none of Jessica Pieklo\u2019s legal training imbued her with some powers of discernment we laymen lack (heck, I\u2019d love to hear her explain how she sees something that a liberal Supreme Court Justice, a former clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun, John F. Kennedy\u2019s Solicitor General, and other liberal legal elites don’t<\/a>). She is outright pretending a fabrication is true and browbeating whoever won\u2019t indulge her farce.<\/p>\n

And there are few more damning indictments of the abortion movement\u2019s intellectual bankruptcy than that the rank-and-file never seem bothered whenever any of their commentators do this. All they\u2019re looking for is narrative reinforcement; they couldn’t care less about learning, knowing, or understanding the subjects that so deeply move them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It never ceases to amaze what passes for \u201cqualified\u201d among pro-aborts. A couple weeks ago, we marveled at how an alleged \u201csenior legal analyst\u201d could, with a straight face, defend an Ohio law which even the American Civil Liberties Union recognized was an unconstitutional infringement upon a pro-life organization\u2019s free speech rights. And today, RH […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":15248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSo now it's "unethical" to not pretend the Constitution protects abortion - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/now-unethical-pretend-constitution-protects-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So now it's "unethical" to not pretend the Constitution protects abortion - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It never ceases to amaze what passes for \u201cqualified\u201d among pro-aborts. A couple weeks ago, we marveled at how an alleged \u201csenior legal analyst\u201d could, with a straight face, defend an Ohio law which even the American Civil Liberties Union recognized was an unconstitutional infringement upon a pro-life organization\u2019s free speech rights. 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Calvin is an editor and administrator for TheFederalistPapers.org, and his work has appeared on NewsRealBlog.com, PatriotUpdate.com, LifeNews.com, LifeSiteNews.com, RightWisconsin.com, AmericanThinker.com, Stream.org, AmericanClarion.org, and more. Please check out his official website, ConservativeStandards.com. 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