Lawmakers are asking the Supreme Court to “reconsider” Roe v Wade
In the midst of high tensions with Iran and fires ravaging Australia, Congress is asking the Supreme Court to once again “reconsider” Roe v Wade.
Anyone hoping for a quiet political year in 2020 has probably already given up that dream, despite the fact that we’re only five days into the year. Tensions between the United States and Iran are at an all-time high, and the fires currently ravaging Australia have been described as “apocalyptic” — a clear sign that we should probably be doing something to help.
But U.S. lawmakers have their attention turned elsewhere, as 39 Republican senators and 168 members of the House of Representatives are challenging Roe v Wade — again. When it was passed in 1973, Roe v Wade legalized abortion nationwide, but that hasn’t stopped organizations and lawmakers from trying to pass restrictive anti-abortion bills at the state level over the years.
And on Thursday, CNN reports that more than 200 lawmakers signed a “friend of the court” brief filed by Americans United for Life, which seeks to pass restrictive laws in Louisiana in response to a case called June Medical Services LLC v Gee. This case goes to court in March, and the legislation proposed by Americans United for Life would require doctors performing abortion services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of whatever facility the procedure is performed at.
The law itself doesn’t directly challenge or attempt to overrule Roe v Wade, but the organization behind it does appear to have that eventual goal in mind. Katie Glenn, government affairs counsel for Americans United for Life, said, “There is no expectation that this case will overturn Roe v Wade. However, the court has the opportunity to reconsider the cases that have come before this case and in particular related to the workability of Roe and other precedents.”
Whether that’s something the court will do remains to be seen, but this is the first anti-abortion bill to be addressed since Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch were appointed. The two have made it clear where they stand on the issue, and naturally, those in support of Roe v Wade are concerned about its longetivity.
The lawmakers who signed off on the brief also seem set on having the Supreme Court “reconsider” Roe v Wade, something they make clear in an amicus brief they filed. Not only does the brief suggest Roe v Wade should be “reconsidered” and “overruled,” but it states that it “remains a radically unsettled precedent.”
Unsurprisingly, most of the Republican senator and representatives signed off on the brief, keeping in line with their stances on abortion. More notably, two Democratic representatives signed it as well: Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Dan Lipinski of Illinois.
We’ll have to wait to see how this bill progresses in the Supreme Court, but with its latest additions, Roe v Wade very well could be in danger.
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