Arguments to be heard in challenging abortion standard in U.S. by way of Mississippi case.
The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on December 1, 2021.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who began the fight against the ruling in May 2021, is asking the court to recognize the right of the people to pass laws that protect life and women’s health and address legitimate interests of the State.
The same month that Fitch announced the fight an amicus brief signed by 207 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate was filed to reconsider the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Mississippi passed a 15-week abortion ban, HB 1510, in 2018 through the Legislature. It was signed into law by former Governor Phil Bryant. The law was overturned by U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves.
Reeves ruled that the law was unconstitutional, saying that the “established medical consensus” recognizes a viable fetus closer to 23 or 24 weeks. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his ruling when they blocked the law from taking effect.
According to the Mississippi law at issue, some exceptions to the ban would be made for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality. Any doctor that performed an abortion after 15 weeks would be found in violation and face mandatory suspension and the loss of their license.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to present our case directly to the Justices this December,” said Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “The Court has acknowledged that states have the authority to promote legitimate interests, including protecting women’s health and defending life; but its abortion precedents have denied the people and their elected leaders the ability to fully do so. In fact, the Roe decision shackles states to a view of facts that is decades old, such that while science, medicine, technology, and culture have all rapidly progressed since 1973, duly enacted laws on abortion are unable to keep up. With Dobbs, the Supreme Court can return decision making about abortion policy to the elected leaders and allow the people to empower women and promote life.”
The case is expected to be heard in person but will be closed to the public. A live feed will be available.
“We’re proud to stand with Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Solicitor General Scott Stewart, and the people of Mississippi as they champion life at the Supreme Court. It is time to follow the science and modernize our laws,” said pro-life Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
She added that science has changed substantially since the passage of Roe v. Wade and that doctors now know that by 15 weeks an unborn baby’s heart has beat nearly 16 million times.
“She already shows a preference for her right or left hand, responds to taste, and can feel pain. They and their mothers deserve protection in the law,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Yet fifty years of unworkable jurisprudence has tied the hands of state lawmakers and made the United States one of only seven countries in the world – including China and North Korea – that allow abortion on demand for any reason up to birth. Americans overwhelmingly agree that this status quo is too extreme.”
The SBA List also notes the following medical advancements in knowledge regarding a baby in utero:
- By 15 weeks of pregnancy, every major organ has grown and most are functional.
- The heart pumps 26 quarts of blood per day.
- The intestines have started the lifelong contractions that propel food through the digestive system.
- The kidneys already filter toxins.
- The unborn baby prefers sucking his right or left thumb.
- By studying ultrasounds, scientists have determined that 85% of unborn babies prefer moving their right hand over their left hand. About 85% of adults prefer their right hand, too.
- If a twin, the unborn baby moves more gently when reaching toward her twin’s face.
- The baby responds to taste.
- Flavors from the mother’s food seep into the amniotic fluid, peaking after about 45 minutes.
- If the amniotic fluid tastes sweet because of an injection of saccharin, the baby swallows more fluid. If the amniotic fluid tastes bitter, the baby swallows less.
- The baby’s heart has already beat approximately 15,800,000 times.
- A baby’s heart starts beating about 22 days after fertilization.
- In total, a baby’s heart beats about 54 million times between conception and birth.
- The baby’s body responds to both touch and pain.
- The baby responds to light touches over most of the body.
- If something touches the palm of the baby’s hand, the baby will bend his or her fingers as if to grasp the object.
- Neurotransmitters specific to pain processing appear between 10- and 14-weeks’ gestation. The spinal nerves needed to transmit pain to the thalamus have formed by 15 weeks’ gestation.
Y’all Politics will continue to follow this case as it develops.
Sarah Ulmer
