Supreme Court hearing Mississippi abortion case leaves Roe v. Wade on the line
Fox News correspondent David Spunt with more on overturning the controversial law.
America has reaped the bitter harvest since seven men decided Roe v. Wade nearly a half century ago. More than 62 million unborn lives have subsequently been lost to abortion, and countless others wounded. The intervening years have seen a large, growing, and organized opposition to abortion on demand. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which is before the Supreme Court today, can right the wrongs of Roe.
The March for Life started on the first anniversary of the Roe decision in January 1974 in Washington, D.C., and now brings tens of thousands of Americans together each year to take a very public stand for the unborn and their mothers. Collectively millions of Americans have marched for life over the years to give a voice to the voiceless, the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable, the unborn. The March’s steady growth is perhaps the most tangible sign that Roe is not settled law.
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR MISSISSIPPI ABORTION CASE THAT COULD OVERTURN ROE V. WADE: LIVE UPDATES
Part of the reason for this increasing public support for the unborn and their mothers is due to scientific progress. It clearly exposes the fatal flaws of Roe, which permitted abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
Jeanne Mancini is president of March for Life.
Decades of advancements in science and technology have enhanced our understanding that human life begins at conception. We now know, for example, that an unborn child’s heart is actively beating around the fifth or sixth week. Pain receptors begin forming around the seventh week. By week 15 the babies have fully formed noses, lips, eyelids and eyebrows, can suck their thumbs, and can even feel pain.
And thanks to modern health care developments, prematurely born babies today can survive outside the womb earlier and earlier. These scientific advancements and others informed Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, the law at issue in Dobbs.
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Not only does Mississippi’s law limiting elective abortion after 15 weeks align with new scientific insights, it is in line with the laws in Europe where countries are often considered much more progressive than the U.S. The majority of these European nations restrict elective abortions to 12 weeks. An overwhelming 47 out of 50 European nations either prohibit elective abortions or limit them to 15 weeks or earlier, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute research. In fact, the United States is a relative outlier (along with China and North Korea) as one of only a handful countries in the world that permit elective abortion after 20 weeks.
Public opinion also supports limits for abortion that Roe doesn’t allow. A large majority (76%) of Americans consistently say they want abortion limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. Poll after poll confirms these findings.
All of these things contribute to the growing support for life. But in the end, we march for life because we are united in the common understanding that every life from the moment of conception is an irreplaceable gift that deserves legal protection: equality begins in the womb.
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When it comes to the inherent dignity of every human person, skin color doesn't matter, disability status doesn't matter, socioeconomic background doesn't matter; what matters is the fact that every life is precious.
It’s far past time for the Court to let us pass laws that reflect these values.
Jeanne Mancini is president of the March for Life.