LIFE DIGEST: Alabama justices point to Roe’s weakness
- Feb 21, 2012 -
The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled unanimously a mother may pursue a wrongful death claim on behalf of her unborn child from conception.
In a concurring opinion, four justices criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning on viability – when the unborn baby can survive outside the womb – in its 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion, which legalized abortion.
Also in this edition: Care Net, Heartbeat International launch separate help lines, Trial dates set for abortion doctors facing murder charges, Oklahoma Senate passes bill defining personhood from conception, and Washington House OKs mandate to cover abortion with maternity care.
Alabama’s justices ruled Amy Hamilton could go forward with a lawsuit after her son, who had not reached the point of viability, was stillborn in 2005, according to LifeSiteNews.com. Hamilton sued doctors, asserting their failure to provide proper care she requested led to her son’s death. The state Supreme Court overturned a lower court, which decided she could not pursue a wrongful death claim because her child was nonviable.
The high court rejected that reasoning, which was based on Roe, and quoted one of its own decisions from 1973, which found “from the moment of conception, the fetus or embryo is not a part of the mother, but rather has a separate existence within the body of the mother,” LifeSite News reported.
Associate Justice Tom Parker, who wrote the court’s decision, also said in a concurring opinion Roe’s viability standard does not apply in areas of the law other than abortion.
“Medical advances since Roe have conclusively demonstrated that an unborn child is a unique human being at every stage of development,” Parker wrote in the concurring opinion. “Roe’s viability rule is neither controlling nor persuasive here and should be rejected by other states until the day it is overruled by the United States Supreme Court.”
Americans United for Life said the Alabama high court’s unanimous decision “is the most recent example of how state courts and state legislatures have given increasing legal protection to the unborn child from conception in state criminal and tort law.”
David Smolin, professor at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., said the debate about the viability of the unborn child will pose difficult questions for abortion rights advocates.
“It is philosophically, morally and ethically problematic to consider a human as a person for some things and not for others,” Smolin told The Huntsville (Ala.) Times.
Care Net, Heartbeat International launch separate help lines
Care Net and Heartbeat International – the country’s leading networks of pregnancy care centers – have begun operating separate help lines for women seeking help.
After sharing a joint help line for more than eight years, Care Net and Heartbeat started operating separate, toll-free lines Feb. 16.
Care Net’s new line is 1-800-395-HELP (4357). Its outreach is operating with the name Pregnancy Decision Line.
Heartbeat’s new line 1-800-712-HELP (4357). Its outreach’s name is Option Line, and its website is www.OptionLine.org.
“At this point in time, the magnitude of the challenge, as well as the unique strengths of Heartbeat and Care Net, make two ventures, rather than one, the most effective course for the future,” according to Heartbeat.
Care Net and Heartbeat served more than 1.5 million people through their joint help line and anticipate continued collaboration in the future.
Trial dates set for abortion doctors facing murder charges
Trials for two abortion doctors indicted for the murder of late-term, unborn babies will be held this summer in Maryland.
Steven Brigham, who has operated abortion clinics in four states, will be tried June 4-15, while Nicola Riley will stand trial beginning June 27 and concluding July 18, LifeNews.com reported Feb. 16.
Brigham has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of second-degree murder and a count of conspiracy to commit murder, according to The Baltimore Sun. Riley has been indicted on a count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, The Sun reported.
It appears to be the first time Maryland’s fetal homicide law has been used against an abortion doctor, according to the newspaper.
Police raided Brigham’s clinic in Elkton, Md., in August 2010 while investigating a botched abortion and uncovered frozen aborted babies as much as 35 weeks’ gestation.
In addition to Maryland, Brigham has operated abortion clinics in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Oklahoma Senate passes bill defining personhood from conception
The Oklahoma Senate has approved legislation that would define personhood as beginning at conception.
Senators voted 34-8 for the measure, which says the state’s laws will recognize unborn babies possess “at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.” The House of Representatives also is expected to pass the bill.
Tony Lauinger, chairman of Oklahomans for Life, applauded the Senate’s Feb. 15 action.
“The Personhood Act is a strong, clear statement that it is the policy of the State of Oklahoma to protect innocent children,” he said in a written statement. “It lays the foundation for legal protections for children in the womb to the fullest extent permitted under U.S. Supreme Court precedents.
“There is great educational value in a law such as the Personhood Act. Most citizens instinctively respect our laws. Many equate what is legal with what is right. Our laws serve an essential purpose in teaching, in guiding our actions.”
Sen. Brian Crain, R.-Tulsa, the bill’s sponsor, said it would not affect Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion throughout the country. He also said it would not bar birth control methods or in vitro fertilization, the Tulsa World reported.
Washington House OKs mandate to cover abortion with maternity care
The Washington state House of Representatives has passed a bill that will require health insurance plans to cover abortions if they provide maternity coverage.
On Feb. 13, the House voted 52-46 for the controversial measure. The Senate has yet to act on the legislation.
Abortion rights advocates praised the action, but pro-lifers decried the proposal.
“To mandate that we violate our conscience is tyranny,” said Dan Kennedy, chief executive officer of Human Life of Washington, according to The Seattle Times. “There’s no subtle or soft way to put the truth.”
The state has a “conscience clause” law that permits insurance plans sponsored by religious organizations to be exempt from paying for abortions, The Times reported.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. Our free, downloadable Impact resource is also available online. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
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