Pro-Life Groups Respond to SCOTUS Decision to Let Texas Heartbeat Act Stand as Litigation Continues: Life Is Winning

Penny StarrDecember 10, 2021

Pro-life organizations that for decades have been working to overturn Roe v. Wade, which made abortion on demand the law of the land, are praising the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson to let the Texas law stand as litigation continues.

“The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court this morning to allow the Texas abortion law to remain in effect is very encouraging,” Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood director, CEO and Founder of And Then There Were None, said in a statement. “It has given the opportunity for life to thousands more unborn babies.”

“I’m very hopeful the Justices are poised to rule favorably in Dobbs, delivering the decision of abortion back to the states, where more than half will immediately ban the procedure,” Johnson said referring to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which deals with Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortion. “I look forward to that day.”

Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino posted her reaction to the SCOTUS decision on Twitter:

With today’s controlling opinion in Whole Women’s Health, it was refreshing to see the Court rightly address procedural questions about SB8 and its jurisdiction as such.

Could the days of the Court’s “abortion distortion” jurisprudence finally be behind us? I’m optimistic. /1

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2021

After being subjected to continuous intimidation and fearmongering from the Left, the Court’s five constitutionalists showed an unwavering commitment to applying the law to the facts before them, and an unwillingness to expand Article III standing, as they were asked to do. /2

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2021

The plurality (Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett) and Thomas disagreed only about SB8’s saving clause, each opinion applying good faith textualist methodology but reaching a different conclusion as to whether federal suit may be brought against the licensing officials. /3

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2021

The Court’s dismissal of DOJ’s suit as improvidently granted further illustrates what has become increasingly clear: Merrick Garland is not the moderate he was presented to be when he was nominated, and runs a department that has been radically politicized. /4

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2021

Litigation regarding SB8 will continue, both in Texas state court and against licensing officials in federal court.

It’s a reminder of the chaos that Roe and Casey created, and the importance that those precedents be overturned. /5

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2021

Nicole Hudgens, government affairs director with the Family Policy Alliance, said in a statement:

Today, the Court has ensured that more Texas children will have the chance to celebrate a birthday. We celebrate today’s victory with our friends in Texas, and eagerly await the day when every child across America has a chance to celebrate a birthday.”

“By dismissing the Biden-Harris administration’s attack on preborn children – and the attacks of many others – the Court has sent a clear signal that life is winning,” the Alliance press release on the decision said.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony, said in a statement:

We celebrate that the Texas Heartbeat Act will remain in effect, saving the lives of unborn children and protecting mothers while litigation continues in lower courts. Meanwhile, we anxiously await the Court’s decision in the Dobbs case in which the Court is directly considering the constitutionality of laws that protect unborn children and mothers prior to viability.

Dobbs presents the biggest opportunity in generations to modernize our laws. We have great hope that the Court will return the issue back to the people to decide through their elected representatives, letting democracy and consensus prevail.

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund said in a statement:

Today the Court ruled on a procedural issue without addressing the merits of the case challenging the Texas Heartbeat Act. Many lives have already been and will continue to be saved by this law, which protects unborn children with detectable beating hearts.

The Texas law came about because for decades Roe has blocked states from being able to regulate abortion, a right the Constitution gives to the people through their elected representatives. We hope in the upcoming Dobbs case the Court returns this right to the people.

The case is Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson No. 21–463 before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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