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‘It’s Up to The People’: GOP Upping Pressure on SCOTUS to Overturn Roe v. Wade

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade.

Under the state’s previously Democratic-led administration, Virginia joined 21 other states in urging the justices to invalidate Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban and reaffirm the core holding of the court’s 1973 decision in Roe.

“The [new] Attorney General has reconsidered Virginia’s position in this case,” Miyares told the justices in a letter. “Virginia is now of the view that the Constitution is silent on the question of abortion, and that it is therefore up to the people in the several states to determine the legal status and regulatory treatment of abortion.”

Miyares said Virginia will be aligning with 19 Republican attorneys general and a dozen red-state governors across the country in calling for states to control abortion laws.

“It is Virginia’s position that the court’s decisions in Roe and Casey were wrongly decided,” he wrote, referring also to the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that barred states from placing an undue burden on abortion access before viability. “This court should restore judicial neutrality to the abortion debate by permitting the people of the several states to resolve these questions for themselves.”

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Last month, Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley argued that Roe v. Wade is the greatest injustice of our lifetime and that the Supreme Court has an opportunity to correct it.

During an interview with Breitbart, Hawley said that after the first day of oral arguments that Roe v. Wade is “very much in play.”

Hawley explained, “It would mean the reaching of a landmark goal that I mean, frankly, I have to say just personally, that Roe is one of the reasons that the major reason that I went into politics, and I think that’s true for many, many other people. That’s one of the major reasons I was interested in the law. And this is the greatest injustice of our lifetimes.”

Hawley said, “I just have to say that someone who believes that that row is one of the worst decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court, I think it would be a monumental moral landmark and reverse a great injustice.”

The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a Mississippi law that would ban nearly all abortions after 15 weeks.

Justice Clarence Thomas asked a pointed question during the hearing that should have pro-abortion liberals worried.

”Does a mother have a right to ingest drugs and harm a pre-viable baby? Can the state bring child neglect charges against the mother?“ he asked.

The attorney representing Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the organization attempting to overturn the law, had this to say: “That’s not what this case is about, but a woman has a right to make choices about her body.”

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Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh might be the deciding votes on the case.

CNN reported that Roberts and Kavanaugh might be looking at a “middle ground,” where they may not support completely reversing Roe v Wade:

Roberts suggested the court could look at Mississippi’s 15-week law as a new viability standard, rather than Roe and Casey, which is over 20 weeks. And Kavanaugh, meanwhile, has asked to confirm that Mississippi isn’t asking the court to outright prohibit abortion, a way to say it’s not overturning Roe while limiting access.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked a question that seems aimed at the arguments made by abortion-rights advocates that a decision overturning Roe v. Wade would be a step towards the Supreme Court eventually issuing a decision that would outlaw abortion nationwide.

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Mississippi is arguing that the Constitution is silent or neutral on the abortion question. Kavanaugh asked Stewart to confirm, which he did.

Kavanaugh suggested that a majority of states – or at least many states – would maintain abortion access.

“The Constitution is neither pro-life nor pro-choice … and leaves the issue to the people to resolve in the democratic process,” Kavanaugh said.

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