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Supreme Court to Hear Louisiana Case That Could Impact the Future of Abortion in the US

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US SUPREME COURT - On Wednesday, the nation's highest court takes up its first major abortion case since the confirmation of two new justices. Pro-life activists hope this will give the court a pro-life majority for the first time in decades and this case might have an impact on the future of abortion in America.

The Louisiana case is about a state law insisting abortion doctors must have admitting privileges for their patients to a local hospital. The state says that it's crucial to protect women if medical complications arise during or just after an abortion that the clinic can't handle.   

The abortion providers say only one Louisiana abortion doctor has such admitting privileges, so enforcing that new law would drive needed doctors out of the business. These providers say that would place an undue burden on women's right to an abortion.

Abortionists Say This Law Hurts Women; Law's Proponents Say Abortionists Hurt Women

On the other side, Americans United for Life President Catherine Glenn Foster said of this case, "There's an abortion business that is fighting for the right to abandon its patients.  And the court is also going to be looking at the question of whether that business should be allowed to go into court and try to strike down the very laws that were enacted to protect their patients, the women."

Allan Parker of The Justice Foundation says many women he represents are asking the Supreme Court to rule against abortion providers.

He told CBN News, "We actually put in 4,660 legally admissible written testimonies of women injured by abortion.  It's the largest collection in the world of direct sworn evidence about what abortion does to women."

A Lie? 'Abortion is Good for Women'

"There is a lie out there that is promoted by the abortion lobby," said Brandi Swindell of the pro-life Stanton Healthcare.   

She said the lie is that abortion is good for women, and she fights back by running pro-life pregnancy centers.

TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON ABORTION GO HERE TO PROTECT THE UNBORN.

The centers are "staffed by people and by women who have had abortions," she explained. "And they're involved in pro-life work because they believed the lie and then they experienced the pain of abortion. And it changed their lives forever."

Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life noted, "We know for decades women have been speaking out more and more about the harm that abortion does to them, for a lifetime.  And it's not that abortion sometimes harms the mother. It always harms the mother."

Possibly Shaking the Foundations of Legalized Abortion?

207 Capitol Hill lawmakers filed an amicus brief asking the high court to use this case to review its stand that no undue burden can be placed on women getting an abortion. If the justices did that, it could potentially lead the court to reconsider whether getting an abortion itself should be an automatic right.

David Bereit, founder of the anti-abortion movement 40 Days for Life, told CBN News abortion's certainly not a constitutional right, but one made up by the justices in 1973.

This Right Isn't in the Constitution, but the 'Penumbra'

Bereit said of those justices, "They actually even described that this right which hadn't ever previously existed in the formation of our country and in the Constitution of the United States, they said they found it in the 'penumbra' of the shadows of the Constitution, and it's because it was never there in the first place."

Pro-choice activists who oppose laws like this Louisiana one say today's court must honor the precedent set by earlier justices and not go back on any sort of right to an abortion.

But pro-life lawyer Foster proclaimed it's time to re-examine that so-called right, saying, "The court can finally look at the precedent that got us here, looking at it and recognizing that it is the Court's prerogative to assess that precedent."

The court should announce its ruling on this important case by June.  

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About The Author

Paul
Strand

Como corresponsal del buró de noticias de CBN en Washington DC, Paul Strand ha cubierto una variedad de temas políticos y sociales, con énfasis en defensa, justicia y el Congreso. Strand comenzó su labor en CBN News en 1985 como editor de asignaciones nocturnas en Washington, DC. Después de un año, trabajó con CBN Radio News por tres años, volviendo a la sala de redacción de televisión para aceptar un puesto como editor en 1990. Después de cinco años en Virginia Beach, Strand se trasladó de regreso a la capital del país, donde ha sido corresponsal desde 1995. Antes de unirse a CBN News, Strand