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Justice Thomas Asks: Where Is the Right to Abortion in the Constitution?

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During oral arguments for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Wednesday, the case that could effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked a number of questions. Typically, Thomas stays silent.

During one exchange with U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, Thomas pointed out a number of constitutional amendments that very clearly protect specific rights of Americans. He then asked Prelogar where abortion fits in.

(Read more from “Justice Thomas Asks: Where Is the Right to Abortion in the Constitution?” HERE)

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Supreme Court Seems Poised to Consider New Limits on “Right” to Abortion

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A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared poised to consider setting new limits on the right to abortion during oral arguments Wednesday over a Mississippi law that takes direct aim at the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

The Mississippi law at issue, which bans virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, conflicts with the nearly five-decade rule that says states cannot prohibit abortion prior to when a fetus can live outside the womb, known as fetal viability, which occurs around 24 weeks.

But on Wednesday, the court’s conservatives, who constitute a six-member majority on the bench, posed sharp questions about how firmly rooted Roe’s viability standard is in the Constitution.

“If you think that the issue is one of choice, that women should have the choice to terminate their pregnancy, that supposes that there is a point at which they’ve had the fair choice, the opportunity to choice. And why would 15 weeks be an inappropriate line? Viability, it seems to me, doesn’t have anything to do with choice. But if it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked.

The scene of dueling pro- and anti-abortion activists outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday underscored the enormous stakes and political gravity of a case that sits at the intersection of women’s health and bodily autonomy, deeply held religious belief about the sanctity of human life and the potential cost in the court’s legitimacy if the justices depart from past abortion rulings that have been relied upon for generations. (Read more from “Supreme Court Seems Poised to Consider New Limits on Right to Abortion” HERE)

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Major City’s ‘Christian’ Censorship Hits Supreme Court

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Liberty Counsel said Monday it has delivered to the U.S. Supreme Court its arguments against the city of Boston’s strategic censorship of a camp flag from a “public forum” at its city hall because of the flag’s Christian faith link.

The dispute is over the city’s banishment of a Christian flag that Boston resident Hal Shurtleff and his Christian “Camp Constitution” requested to be flown at the public forum, as dozens of other flags already had.

The legal team working on behalf of Shurtleff said, “This case will set national precedent regarding the issue of government versus private speech.”

Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver said, “Liberty Counsel looks forward to presenting this nationally important case to the Supreme Court. It is indisputable that Boston denied the private flag raising solely because the application contained the word ‘Christian’ before the word ‘flag.’ It was this single word that resulted in the first censorship of a private flag raising application after 12 years with no denials. Censoring religious viewpoints in a public forum where secular viewpoints are permitted is unconstitutional. This case will have a national impact. Religious viewpoints must not be excluded from the marketplace.” (Read more from “Major City’s ‘Christian’ Censorship Hits Supreme Court” HERE)

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Supreme Court Hears Texas Pro-Life Law Arguments

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The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments concerning a Texas law that has banned most abortions in the state.

The Texas law known as S.B. 8 would ban most abortions at about six weeks, when a fetal heartbeat may be detected. The justices are hearing arguments in two cases over whether abortion providers or the Justice Department can mount federal court challenges to the law.

The issue being argued is who can be sued — including state judges and court clerks, who would oversee any litigation. In the initial lawsuits, the abortion clinics had sued those judicial officials, since state executive officers would not have that authority to enforce S.B. 8.

That “gateway” issue will be key for the state and federal courts poised to continue hearing the case in coming months. The state has argued judicial officers are not responsible for enforcing the abortion restriction and can’t be sued.

In neither case is the right to an abortion directly at issue, but the motivation for lawsuits filed by abortion providers and the Justice Department is that the Texas law conflicts with landmark Supreme Court rulings that prevent a state from banning abortion early in pregnancy. (Read more from “Supreme Court Hears Texas Pro-life Law Arguments” HERE)

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Evil Biden Administration Pushes Supreme Court to Halt Texas Heartbeat Law

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The Biden administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to block the Texas Heartbeat Act, accusing the state of “nullifying” the constitutional rights of its citizens.

The Texas law, also called S.B. 8, allows private citizens to sue abortion providers if they perform abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable. A 5-4 Court in September refused to block implementation of the law, rebuffing an emergency appeal from abortion clinics in Texas. The Justice Department says its claim is different because the federal government has a special duty to stop end-runs around the Constitution.

“The United States has a sovereign interest in ensuring the supremacy of federal law by preventing a state from suspending a constitutional right within its borders,” the government’s emergency appeal reads.

The Biden administration has taken the lead in the legal fight against the Texas Heartbeat Act. Apart from Monday’s emergency appeal, Attorney General Merrick Garland has promised to step up prosecutions under a federal law that forbids injuring, intimidating, or interfering with patients or workers near abortion clinics. And President Joe Biden has promised a “whole-of-government” response to the law.

The Justice Department also suggested the Court should add the Texas case to its regular docket and resolve the case through normal process. The justices would hear arguments sometime in early 2022, with a decision to follow by summer. (Read more from “Biden Pushes Supreme Court to Halt Texas Heartbeat Law” HERE)

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/americanlifeleague/8429292177

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Jab or Job: Supreme Court Refuses to Block Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers

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The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block a vaccine mandate for health workers in the state of Maine on Tuesday, sending a potential green light to state mandates across the country.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who handles emergency requests from Maine for the court, was responsible for the denial, which he said came “without prejudice.” The challenge came from a group of Maine health workers who argued Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ vaccine mandate was illegal. With the SCOTUS denial, the mandate for employees at hospitals and nursing homes will take effect next week, according to The Hill.

Many states have become battlegrounds over enforcement of vaccine mandates in recent months, with courts in Florida, New York and elsewhere blocking various efforts to impose mandates.

During a Tuesday episode of NPR’s “All Things Considered”, Patty Wight, a reporter with Maine Public Radio, said ambulance crews across the state face staffing crises, as some paramedics and EMTs are quitting over the mandate. (Read more from “Jab or Job: Supreme Court Refuses to Block Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers” HERE)

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Biden’s Court-Packing Commission Blames Republicans for Polarization Over Judiciary

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President Joe Biden’s commission on expanding (or “packing”) the Supreme Court issued a set of draft documents Thursday that blamed Republicans for current polarization over the judiciary, due to their refusal to confirm Merrick Garland in 2016.

The “discussion materials,” released Thursday afternoon ahead of a day-long public hearing on Friday, include a potted history of congressional tinkering with the courts, and consider a variety of reforms, including term limits for the Court.

In a document on the “genesis of the reform debate,” the commission largely ignores Democrats’ efforts to politicize the confirmation process, from the battles over Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to eliminate the filibuster rule for lower-level judicial nominees so that Democrats could push nominees through.

The commission also ignores how decades of liberal judicial activism on social issues undermined the courts’ legitimacy among many Americans, and it neglects President Barack Obama’s public rebukes of the Supreme Court on multiple occasions, including during his State of the Union address in 2010, when the justices were prevented from responding. (Read more from “Biden’s Court-Packing Commission Blames Republicans for Polarization Over Judiciary” HERE)

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Supreme Court Allows Texas Abortion Ban To Stand

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The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision that was delayed long enough to allow a new Texas abortion ban to take effect, has decided to allow the state requirements to stand pending further court review that is expected to happen in coming months.

The 5-4 majority in the decision included the three justices appointed by President Trump, and left members of the minority complaining about the violation of the U.S. Constitution because of their own perception of a “federal constitutional right” to abortion.

That topic already is on the court’s docket for later this year when a major ruling is expected on another abortion ban, this one from Mississippi, that could be used to undermine, or even overturn, the original 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that created that “right” to abortion.

The justices had failed to act on Tuesday and the law took effect on Wednesday. The opinion actually came out overnight going into Thursday, and might have been delayed because of the insistence by the four dissenters to each write their own opinion on the dispute.

The court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, voted against the state’s abortion limit, and were joined by John Roberts, originally described as a conservative on the bench but more and more voting with the liberal minority. (Read more from “Supreme Court Allows Texas Abortion Ban To Stand” HERE)

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Trump-Appointed Amy Coney Barrett Refuses to Block COVID Vaccine Mandate

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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday refused to block a plan by Indiana University to require students and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Barrett’s action came in response to an emergency request from eight students, and it marked the first time the high court has weighed in on a vaccine mandate. Some corporations, states and cities have adopted vaccine requirements for workers or even to dine indoors, and others are considering doing so.

The students said in court papers that they have “a constitutional right to bodily integrity, autonomy, and of medical treatment choice in the context of a vaccination mandate.” They wanted the high court to issue an order barring the university from enforcing the mandate. Seven of the students qualify for a religious exemption. (Read more from “Trump-Appointed Amy Coney Barrett Refuses to Block COVID Vaccine Mandate” HERE)

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It’s Official: Arrest Warrants Have Been Issued for Texas Democrats (VIDEO)

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The Texas Supreme Court ruled earlier this week law enforcement has the authority to arrest Democrat legislators who abandoned their posts last month and flew to Washington D.C. on a private jet. Two of them continued onto Portugal for vacation, citing non-refundable plane tickets. They fled the state in order to avoid a vote on election integrity legislation. . .

(Read more from “It’s Official: Arrest Warrants Have Been Issued for Texas Democrats (VIDEO)” HERE)

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