By Dave Andrusko
Just a reminder… On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court announced that they have set February 24 as the date for oral arguments in a challenge to the Texas Heartbeat Law—S.B.8. Pro-abortionists desperately wanted the case sent back to U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, the trial judge who briefly (and angrily) blocked S.B.8. in October. His order was then put on hold by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appeals court in turn “sent the case [Whole Woman’s Health vs. Jackson] to the state Supreme Court for certification, saying they couldn’t answer the enforcement question, which they say is a matter of state law,‘” Eleanor Klibanoff wrote.
The good news—and there is plenty of it—is that upwards of 30 states to date are not waiting for a decision on S.B. 8 or on Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act that prohibits unborn babies after the 15th week. A pro-abortion author, Time magazine’s Abigail Abrams , wrote
Republican lawmakers introducing the 15-week bills this term say they are doing so specifically in light of the pending Supreme Court decision. The idea is that if the justices decide to allow the Mississippi law to stand, then these states’ 15-week abortion bans would already be in place.
Fears that the Supreme Court will use Mississippi’s law to sharp curtail or even overturn Roe v. Wade are everywhere. Anna Rupani , who directs Fund Texas Choice, made it clear how high the stakes are for the Abortion Industry in an op-ed for USA Today:
It’s not enough anymore to be “pro-choice.” We must be unapologetically in favor of abortion because we know that abortion is health care; it is a procedure that ensures the health and safety of millions of people. Anyone, anywhere – for reasons that are no one’s business but their own – deserves to have an abortion.
Caroline Kitchener, writing for the Washington Post, commented on the passion of pro-lifers :
The push for new laws reflects the pent-up energy among antiabortion lawmakers who have been constricted for decades by parameters established in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which declared laws unconstitutional if they impose an “undue burden” on someone seeking an abortion before their fetus is viable outside of the womb.
As we do every legislative session, NRL News Today will keep you abreast of the latest developments.
