You’ve undoubtedly heard that the US Supreme Court has decided to consider whether or not the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is constitutional. Pro-life President Bush put the influence of his office behind urging the Court to accept the case. The Court received 800 such requests in the past year and only accepted a small percentage of them.
This decision comes just weeks after a crucial change on our nations highest court. The Supreme Court previously considered a partial-birth abortion ban in 2000. By a vote of 5 to 4 the Court said that the brutal killing of a child during delivery was okay. Justice Sandra Day OConnor was the tie-breaking vote to continue this grisly practice by abortionists.
But times have changed! Justice OConnor is gone. In her place is Justice Samuel Alito. You may also know that Justice Alito voted against a partial-birth abortion ban while serving on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. But it was a unique situation that needs to be explained. The 3rd Circuit had the opportunity to rule on a partial-birth abortion ban two months before the Supreme Court did. Some would say politics played a part in delaying their action. Justice Alito chided his fellow jurists for delaying their vote, because it resulted in making their decision subject to the Supreme Courts previous decision to reject the ban.
Now that Justice Alito is on the Supreme Court, it is expected by most on both sides of the abortion issue that he will rule to protect babies from this heinous act.
Victory is not certain, but I am very hopeful that our nation will take an important step toward protecting ALL innocent human life from womb to tomb.
Some pro-lifers say that a ban on partial-birth abortion wont save a single child. They say abortionists will simply change the way they abort babies late in their mothers pregnancies. This may be true, but keep in mind that the partial-birth abortion debate has moved America notably forward regarding the publics opinion on abortion. It has shown millions of people the ugly and very deadly reality of abortion.
We rejoice with each and every victory that brings us closer to our ultimate goal of protecting ALL unborn babies. This latest development is good news indeed!
We ask for your continued prayers as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments next fall and likely makes its decision in December or January or 2007.
Bradley Mattes
President, Life Issues Institute
Life Issues Institute is dedicated to changing hearts and minds of millions of people through education. For 32 years, organizations and individuals around the world have depended upon Life Issues Institute to provide the latest information and effective tools to protect innocent human life from womb to tomb.