The following comes from a late July story on ABC News.
The cornerstone of the modern abortion rights movement is under siege.
Twelve states have passed laws banning abortions at 20 or fewer weeks after conception, all directly flaunting the legal precedent set by the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling. The most stringent law is in North Dakota, which has banned the practice after six weeks.
Six of those laws have been partially or fully blocked by the courts (including North Dakota’s), and more challenges are likely to come.
As they do, all signs point to a march that will take the issue to the steps of the Supreme Court.
What is less clear is who will win.
“If four of the members want to take the case, they’ll take it,” Peter Hoffa, an American history professor at the University of Georgia, told ABC News. “There are four members of the court now who feel that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.”
Add a fifth, believed by some observers to be Justice Anthony Kennedy, and the case could overturn 40 years of legal precedent on abortion.
As more laws are passed and are challenged in federal courts, the more likely a Supreme Court challenge to Roe v. Wade becomes.
Perhaps sensing blood in the water, anti-abortion advocates openly welcome the possibility.
“We would welcome a challenge at the Supreme Court level because we think we would have enough votes to uphold the law,” Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee, told ABC News.
The National Right to Life Committee drafted the model bill that inspired the first statewide, 20-week abortion ban, in Nebraska.
It prohibits abortions after a fetus is “pain capable,” which is believed to be around 20 weeks, according to disputed studies. Roe v. Wade established a “viability” standard that allowed abortions until 24 weeks of pregnancy, after which the fetus is generally believed to be capable of surviving outside of the womb.
Spaulding Balch said she senses weakness in her opponents, especially when it comes to being willing to escalate a challenge to “pain capable” laws in federal courts, a precursor to a potential hearing at the Supreme Court.
“I’ve been in this movement for over 40 years and it used to be the norm that whenever a state passed a piece of legislation, our opponents would run immediately and get an injunction,” Spaulding Balch said. “The pain capable laws are the exception.”
“My guess is that they’re as pragmatic as I am, and you have to be able to count to five,” she said, noting the number of Supreme Court justices needed to reach a majority.
Karen O’Connor, an American University political science professor and a supporter of abortion rights, put it bluntly: “I think we are going to see Roe overturned.”
“There are so many cases that are going to be pending in the circuit court, and one of the indicators as to whether or not the Supreme Court takes the case is conflict in the circuit,” O’Connor told ABC News. “We’ll see this happening all this year, so I would say the year after next is going to be a blockbuster year for the court — I’m thinking 2015.”
Spaulding agreed that 2015 is a realistic possibility for the court to address abortion wholesale….
To read entire story, click here.
“Endowment for Human Development”
https://www.ehd.org/movies.php?mov_id=53
PROVES beyond a shadow of a doubt that the unborn human baby feels pain at 9 weeks & 3 days.
Anyone who believes that we must torture and kill defenseless human beings for the gratification or convenience of another is a barbarian.
I hope they use the video’s from the “ENDOWMENT for HUMAN DEVELOPMENT” in Court. Those who support murder of the innocent for the convenience of others will have a difficult time disputing exact science.
It’s used by the medical profession to teach human development to student Doctors in 88 languages.
At 8 weeks & 2 days – REFLEXIVE MOVEMENT
” Touching the embryo elicits squinting, jaw movement, grasping motions, and toe pointing. ”
https://www.ehd.org/movies.php?mov_id=47
At 9 weeks and 3 days – MOTION and SENSATION
” The fetus can also grasp an object, move the head forward and back, open and close the jaw, move the tongue, sigh, and stretch.
Nerve receptors in the face, the palms of the hands, and the soles of the feet can sense light touch.
In response to a light touch on the sole of the foot, the fetus will bend the hip and knee and may curl the toes. ”
https://www.ehd.org/movies.php?mov_id=53
Since 1973 – approximately 53 MILLION innocents in the USA alone have been tortured and slaughtered with full approval from the US Government.
Since Obama’s election he has exported abortion through the United Nations and by linking abortion to US Government aide.
Any Catholic who votes for a politician who is pro-abortion at any level of government – participates in this torture and murder. (Burning with various chemicals or dismembering).
Where have the US Catholic Bishops and their Clergy been regarding teaching Catholics not to vote for EVIL politicians ?
The Democratic Party has had pro-abortion statements in its’ National Platform for years, and has recently added support for sodomy (same-sex marriage).
Abortion + Sodomy = Two Sacraments of the Democratic Party
Well spoken. Roe v. Wade took us back to the 16th century medieval concept known as “quickening”, when the fetus leapt in the womb. Overturning Roe would establish a new precedent that would move us up to the 21st century. there will always be abortion in our culture but limiting it to instances of rape, incest or the life of mother would reestablish some common sense. Abortion supporters are scared stiff that Roe could be overturned, which explains their reluctance to sue individual states that are tightening up their state abortion statutes. the future looks promising, but will never be perfect, something we need to keep in mind. Substantially reducing abortions, instead of fully eliminating it, is a praiseworthy step in the right direction and more doable.
For those who are interested, here is a link to: ” THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DIRECT ABORTION AND LEGITIMATE MEDICAL PROCEDURES ” published in 2010 by the USCCB.
https://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bishops/10-06-23-direct-abortion.pdf
The last presidential election, which relied on heavy Catholic support, has for all practical purposes sealed the issue for years to come. Obama will have the opportunity over the next three years to appoint committed liberals to any vacancies that open up on the supreme bench. That is the reason so many of us were so grievously disappointed when our bishops did not vigorously defend the right to life issue and wasted their time opposing the HHS mandate rather than openly condemn the policies contained in the democrat party platform: Abortion on demand, anywhere, any time, at any age; Same Sex Marriage; Embryonic Stem-Cell Research; Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants; to mention only the most egregious examples of how far out of the main stream the democratic party really is. With an additional ten to twenty million “Hispanic, nominally Catholic” votes for the democrats, we are whistling past the grave yard if we think we have a shot at overturning Roe for the next two decades, if ever.