By Judie Brown
This coming Monday the United States Supreme Court will hand down a much awaited decision in the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt case. This case involves a Texas law, HB2, that relates to “the regulation of abortion procedures, providers and facilities; providing penalties.”
The U. S. Supreme Court blog website defines the two questions before the Court: “(1) Whether, when applying the “undue burden” standard of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a court errs by refusing to consider whether and to what extent laws that restrict abortion for the stated purpose of promoting health actually serve the government’s interest in promoting health; and (2) whether the Fifth Circuit erred in concluding that this standard permits Texas to enforce, in nearly all circumstances, laws that would cause a significant reduction in the availability of abortion services while failing to advance the State’s interest in promoting health—or any other valid interest.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group that filed an amicus brief in the case, supports the constitutionality of such laws because they defend “reasonable and constitutional health and safety measures to regulate abortion.”
So, the bottom line is that HB 2, if upheld by the Supreme Court, is a law that regulates the killing of the preborn. If the abortion that is being sought meets the requirements of the Texas law, the preborn baby will die at the hands of the Texas abortionist.
If the split court decides in favor of this law, by whatever means, it will be viewed as a pro-life victory in the sense that it will expose once again the soft underbelly of the abortion industry, which argues in a drone-like fashion that any restriction on aborting a child is a draconian measure designed to cripple the industry.
On that point, we all can agree. Who doesn’t want to cripple and then eliminate this deadly, multi-million dollar industry that makes its profits over the dead bodies of the preborn? If there ever was a good description of blood money, abortion is it.
But we must be cautious in supporting the regulation of child killing, and here is why. Unlike other questions where regulation might be in order, killing people is not subject to the same measuring stick because killing an innocent person is always wrong.
Regulating the places where the killing is taking place is no different than arguing in the 1940s that the Nazi death camps should have been regulated by government officials even though the deaths would continue to mount.
Oh yes, the pragmatists might say that “abortion is legal in America and we have to do all we can within the context of Supreme Court parameters to stop as much of the killing as we can.” But really? Since when does anyone need the permission of the Supreme Court to work for the total protection of every innocent human being from his beginning until his death?
Many have argued over the years that Congress, for example, can end abortion and that it can and should do so with or without Supreme Court decisions to support what it is planning to do. In fact, as one commentator states, “This is exactly where the focus of the national pro-life conversation needs to be. For years we’ve been settling for little more from ostensible pro-life standard bearers than platitudes about changing hearts and minds, overturning Roe at some undetermined time in the future by appointing good judges, and generally failing to give the issue the emphasis it deserves . . . and little changes nationally (there is more progress at the state level, but they can only do so much within the federal shackles around abortion law).”
This too is basically hogwash. Pro-life Americans should not wait on the Supreme Court, its flawed thinking, or feckless politicians. What we should do is work hard to humanize the preborn baby whenever we talk about building a culture of life. We should strive to end all attacks on innocent persons from the time their life begins until they die. We should teach in word AND DEED the messages of conversion and human personhood!
We must do these things with confidence in God’s truth and remember what Matthew taught in his gospel: All things are possible with God. Without Him, we cannot bear fruit that will last.
I am not waiting on the Supremes. Are you?
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Combat the evil with truth! Join American Life League in defiance of the culture of our day—this culture of death. Through your actions and words, become a part of our movement to build a culture of life. Pray, be informed, and educate others.
For pro-life information, go to all.org.
For pro-life educational tools, visit cultureoflifestudies.com.
To see documented proof of Planned Parenthood’s debauchery and to learn ways to stop its spread, go to stopp.org.
To join with youth outreach for a pro-life generation, go to lifedefender.org.