Despite the almost overwhelming sense of loss when we did not get a complete victory in the Louisiana abortion case, a few days later the Supreme Court did give us a partial victory in two Indiana abortion cases.
In the first case, Operation Outcry Women Injured By Abortion and Melinda Thybault, on behalf of the then 161,000 Signers of The Moral Outcry Petition had filed a brief in the Indiana Sonogram case. It was our third Moral Outcry Brief at the Supreme Court. Persistence pays off! The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court below) had struck down an Indiana Sonogram law which required abortionists to show the woman a sonogram before birth, she then had to wait 18 hours to have an abortion.
The Justice Foundation, on behalf of our clients above, filed a brief in this case back in 2019 asking the Supreme Court to reverse the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Court and uphold the Indiana Sonogram law. While the Court did not go that far, it did grant certiorari in the Indiana Sonogram case which only happens in very few cases. That alone is a victory. The Court then vacated the judgment striking down the law, and remanded (or sent back) the case to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals for it to decide whether the Indiana Sonogram law was unconstitutional in light of the decision in June Medical (the Louisiana Abortion case).
A GOOD RESULT FOR THE INDIANA SONOGRAM LAW
This is a good result. The law lives until another day.
We would like to file a brief at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals now supporting the Indiana Sonogram law. The Operation Outcry Women Injured By Abortion have powerful testimonies which demonstrate the importance of seeing the sonogram. This pure science of a sonogram changes some women's minds and saves them from decades of devastating emotional trauma and possible physical injury. Sonograms also save babies. Women and their children can be saved.
What is the Result of June Medical?
Justice Roberts wrote a concurring opinion in which no other member of the Court agreed, but he may have severely limited the bad effects of the Louisiana abortion case by limiting it to the facts of the hospital admitting privileges case and reaffirming that Planned Parenthood v. Casey is the controlling precedent. Time will tell. He felt he could not reverse that precedent because Louisiana did not ask him to do so, therefore he was bound by the precedent.
Read more from this independent analysis about the case, for more details.
Also read this contrasting article if you are interested in the legal analysis.
In 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Court almost reversed Roe and the Court clearly upheld Informed Consent requirements and 24 hour waiting periods. Indiana law only requires an 18 hour waiting period. In addition, a sonogram is pure science. It is more scientifically valid than any state informed consent brochure, though those are great tools as well. The abortionist simply shows the woman the reality which the abortion industry misleadingly calls "POC" - the products of conception. This is the arms, the legs and the heart of the "product of conception" in her womb that will be "evacuated" or "terminated" in her abortion. For many women it changes their mind and that is the purpose of informed consent - to give the individual patient all the information they need to make an informed decision. This law should be constitutional but this law now will have to go back to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and briefs are due very quickly in that case. No matter who wins there the losing party can then appeal back to the Supreme Court.
Victory in Indiana Parental Notification Law
The Court also did the same thing by vacating a judgment of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals which had declared Indiana's Parental Notification law unconstitutional. The Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded to the 7th Circuit Court for reconsideration. That law, too, should be constitutional even under Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Back to the Supreme Court!
Preparing a New Moral Outcry and Operation Outcry Brief at the Supreme Court -
Mississippi Abortion Ban
Finally, Lord willing, we are also going to be filing a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. Click here to see the certiorari petition of the State of Mississippi. This will be the fifth Moral Outcry Petition brief at the Supreme Court, with more and more signatures every time. That is part of our strategy to batter the gates until they collapse! Banning late term abortions could be a step toward banning all abortions. It allows us also to show the Court that there is growing support for recognizing abortion is a crime against humanity. We hope to have over 300,000 signers of The Moral Outcry Petition by July 16 when the brief has to go to the printer. Ultimately we seek over a million signatures.
Conclusion
How can we even be discussing such things? Someday history will recoil in horror at the things we have to deal with on a daily basis because of the crime against humanity of abortion. Please keep the Supreme Court, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, other federal courts and us in your prayers. Do not lose heart, in due season we will reap. (Galatians 6:9.)
If you can give at this time, your funds will go to support these new briefs to protect women, children, and the very soul of America.
Advancing Life, Liberty and Justice in Him,
Allan E. Parker
President
The Justice Foundation