by catholicherald.co.uk — Simon Caldwell — The U.S. Supreme court has over-ruled a landmark ruling which made abortion up to birth a constitutional right. The decision does not abolish access to abortion but hands the power to individual American states to decide what their abortion laws might be. The court over-turned Roe vs Wade, a 1973 abortion case, by five votes to four. It also voted by six votes to three to uphold a ruling which supported a Mississippi law which bans abortion after 15 weeks. The opinion, in the Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is widely seen as the Supreme Court’s most highly anticipated and consequential ruling since Roe.
It not only overturns Roe, the landmark 1973 abortion case, but also Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a 1992 decision that affirmed Roe. “Abortion presents a profound moral question,” the opinion states. “The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority “We now overrule these decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”
The judgement was welcomed by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who has denied Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who aggressively promote and defend abortion, including Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He said: “This historic Supreme Court decision would not have happened without 50 years of patient, loving, hard work by people of all faiths and none in diverse fields including social service, religion, law, medicine, culture, education, policy and politics. But our work has just begun. “The artificial barriers the Supreme Court created by erecting a so-called Constitutional right out of thin air have been removed. “The struggle to demonstrate we can build a culture that respects every human life, including mothers in crisis pregnancies and the babies they carry, continues. “We must redouble our efforts to accompany women and couples who are facing unexpected or difficult pregnancies, as well as to offer mercy to those suffering the after-effects of the abortion experience.”
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who is opposed to any liberalisation of the abortion laws, has suggested that it will use law enforcement, potential executive actions, and other measures to guarantee easy access for abortions. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said that Congress would be put under pressure to codify Roe into law. Roe v. Wade positioned the U.S. among only six countries in the world, including China and North Korea, that permitted abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy. It has paved the way for more than 60 million abortions to be carried out in the U.S. in the last half a century.
Elyssa Koren of ADF International, a group which defends religious freedom around the world, said: “By upholding the state of Mississippi’s right to limit abortion on demand, the U.S. Supreme Court has corrected its grave error and restored the proper understanding that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a right to abortion. “States now have the freedom to enact crucial protections for unborn life, and must recommit to supporting women through pregnancy and beyond,” she said. She added: “The U.S. is correcting course after decades of abortion extremism, showing the world that it’s never too late to restore human rights. “This judgment realigns the U.S. with Europe and the majority of other countries that protect unborn children from abortion on demand, by recognizing that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to take an innocent life.”
The idea of permitting abortion on demand up to birth has proven to be unpopular. Opinion polls show that about 70 per cent of women in the UK said that they would like to see the country’s 24-week gestational upper limit lowered to earlier in pregnancy. In the US, only one in three Americans support the extremist framework put in place by Roe.
