EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a breaking story and will continue to be updated throughout the day (June 24, 2022)
CV NEWS FEED // The Supreme Court on Friday repealed pro-abortion legal precedents Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, returning the matter of abortion to elected officials in each state.
The 5-3 ruling in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health has long been anticipated by both sides of the political aisle.
The vote to overturn Roe was 5-3 (or 5-3-1), and authored by Justice Alito. Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett joined Alito’s opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts did not join the majority opinion but filed a separate opinion, concurring in part with the Court’s decision to uphold the Mississippi law. He argued, however, that the Court should not have decided the question of whether the Constitution protects abortion.
The court’s three liberals, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented with the entire ruling, of course.
Democrats and abortion industry leaders have worked for months devising ways to thwart the ruling, including by enshrining the so-called “right to abortion” in blue state constitutions. Republican lawmakers in at least 18 states, meanwhile, have enacted “trigger” laws to protect unborn life immediately in the event of Roe’s repeal.
“Held: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito in the Supreme Court majority opinion released Friday:
Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.
CatholicVote President Brian Burch hailed the decision and called on pro-life Americans to immediately act in the interests of cementing the Supreme Court victory at the state and local levels throughout the country.
“Catholics and pro-life advocates across the country celebrate today’s landmark Supreme Court decision as the ‘dawning of a new day in America’ – a long-awaited first step toward the full protection of American women and children,” said Burch:
The Court finally righted the notorious decision in Roe vs. Wade after nearly 50 years of heroic efforts by millions of Americans in pursuit of justice. Nowhere in our Constitution do we find a right to take innocent human life. Further, the humanity of children in the womb has become plain and undeniable thanks to the decades of technological advances since Roe was decided. Millions of women have been coerced, threatened, or forced into a decision they regret. They too are worthy of protection. A dark chapter in our nation’s history has finally been closed.
Burch exhorted the pro-life movement to “resolve to work ever more diligently toward building a culture of life that respects the dignity of both mother and child.”
The Court today has merely allowed state legislators to begin the important task of supporting women in need, and protecting their vulnerable children from the grisly practices of the abortion industry,” he said:
We urge state legislatures along with our federal representatives to move quickly to enact broad protections for women and children, and support for pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and programs that offer real choices for women to keep and love their children.”
CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer added that he saw a great significance in the date of the ruling, from a Catholic perspective. “Not only was this realized on the day we celebrate the Sacred Heart, but every other year it will fall on the Nativity of John the Baptist — who recognized the humanity of Christ in the womb,” he said.
Continuing Coverage
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in response to the Supreme Court ruling that abortion is now fully illegal in the Lone Star State. In addition, June 24 is now a state holiday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, who claims to be Catholic, spoke to the press on Friday morning. “There’s no point in saying ‘Good morning,'” she began, “because it certainly is not one.”
Pelosi went on to refer to the Court ruling as “dark” and motivated by a desire to “strip” women of their freedom.
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