Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, the first female attorney general in the state, asked the Supreme Court of the United States in June to take up the state’s 15-week abortion ban appeal. Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced that it is considering the petition and will soon announce an official decision on whether to hear the case.
According to CBS News, Fitch filed a supplemental brief arguing that federal appeals court judges have varied in their interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June Medical Services v. Russo — the court’s recent ruling that struck down a Louisiana abortion law. Some are using it to block abortion restrictions, while others are using it to prop up pro-life laws.
A preborn child at 14 weeks, just before the protection in Mississippi would take effect.
“This case remains an ideal vehicle to promptly resolve both that question and the first question presented — the contradictions in this Court’s decisions over use of ‘viability’ as a bright line for measuring pro-life legislation,” wrote Fitch. She wants the Court to clarify whether or not “all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.”
Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton together legalized abortion in the United States through birth. Roe struck down state laws on abortion and ruled that women could abort their children up to the subjective point of viability — considered 24 weeks — while Doe allowed abortion after 24 weeks for “health” reasons including “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age.” Because of this, law restricting abortion before 24 weeks, have historically been deemed “unconstitutional.”
READ: 18 state AGs ask Supreme Court to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban
Babies as young as 21 weeks can and do survive with medical intervention. With the appointment of pro-life Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the abortion industry is concerned that if the Supreme Court takes up the Mississippi case it could lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
At 15 weeks gestation, a preborn child has already had a beating heart since she was about 22 days old. He or she will react to a light touch and can hear the people around talking and reading. All organs are present and an ultrasound can determine the child’s sex. A baby this age can suck his or her thumb and kick his or her feet. The baby can make facial expressions as well, including frowning, and the baby also has unique fingerprints.
At this age, the most common abortion procedure is a Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) abortion. After the cervix is dilated, a suction tube removes the amniotic fluid from around the baby. The abortionist then uses a Sopher clamp to dismember the living child, pulling the child’s arms and legs from her torso. Using the clamp, the baby’s head is grasped and crushed. Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino describes this inhumane and gruesome procedure in the video below:
A Supreme Court ruling in favor of the 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi would open the door for other pro-life states to pass similar laws banning abortion at 15 weeks or placing further restrictions on abortion. If Roe v. Wade is eventually overturned, the legality of abortion would be left up to individual states unless all human beings are protected in law, as they should be.
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