Connect with us

Judicial

Federal judge says constitutional right to abortion may exist

Published

on

On Monday, A federal judge in Washington, D.C. hinted that a natural right to abortion might still exist, this is in spite of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year when they voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly informed lawyers on Monday they must file briefs stating whether or not the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was added in 1865 to abolish slavery and “involuntary servitude”, protects a woman’s right to have an abortion.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly stated that the Supreme Court Justices only considered precedent surrounding the 14th Amendment when the Supreme Court delivered its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year.  This ruling removed the 1973 Roe V Wade law which gave women a constitutional right to an abortion.

“[I]t is entirely possible that the Court might have held in Dobbs that some other provision of the Constitution provided a right to access reproductive services had that issue been raised,” Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote. “However, it was not raised.”

Kollar-Kotelly’s request relates to a one-year old case against 10 defendants, who have been charged with conspiring to block access to an abortion clinic in Washington DC.

Advertisement

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone to interfere with “the right to obtain and seek to obtain, and to provide and seek to provide, reproductive health services.”

Prosecutors say that the ten “forcefully pushed through the Clinic door into the Clinic’s waiting room,” injuring a nurse in the process.

Herb Geraghty, who is the executive director of a Pennsylvania-based anti-abortion group, said on Twitter that his “nonviolent pro-life advocacy” has led to him facing federal charges.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
+ posts

Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.

Advertisement
1 Comment
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Donald R. Laster, Jr

This clause “the right to obtain and seek to obtain, and to provide and seek to provide, reproductive health services.” does not protect abortion. An abortion is the intentional killing of a child before birth because someone does not want the child. There are only two justifications for ending a pregnancy – ectopic pregnancy will result in the mother’s and child’s death, and the child is dead in the womb. This is an attempt to twist Amendment 13 text into something it does not say or address.

Trending

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x