All three of Minnesota’s Republican members of Congress along with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) joined more than 200 of their colleagues in asking the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to “reconsider” Roe v. Wade.
In an effort reportedly led by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA-01), 39 senators and 168 House members signed an amicus brief in the case of June Medical Services LLC v. Gee, which the high court plans to take up in the spring.
In 2014, June Medical Services filed suit against a Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30-mile radius. The law has yet to take effect in Louisiana because the litigation process is still unfolding.
It will mark the first abortion-related case heard by the Supreme Court since the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
The amicus brief was submitted by Republican lawmakers in support of the Louisiana law and calls on the Supreme Court to “reconsider” the precedents set in the landmark abortion cases of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
“Amici respectfully suggest that the court’s struggle—similar to dozens of other courts’ herculean struggles in this area—illustrates the unworkability of the ‘right to abortion’ found in Roe and the need for the Court to take up the issue of whether Roe and Casey should be reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled,” states the brief.
Peterson and Rep. Dan Lipinksi (D-IL-03) were the only two Democrats to join their Republican peers in signing the document. All three of Minnesota’s Republican members of Congress, Reps. Pete Stauber (R-MN-08), Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), and Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-01), signed the legal brief.
The amicus brief goes on to state that Roe v. Wade “remains a radically unsettled precedent.”
“In sum, Roe’s jurisprudence has been characterized by Delphic confusion and protean change,” the brief concludes. “Casey clearly did not settle the abortion issue, and it is time for the Court to take it up again.”
In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Texas after finding that it would place an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions, since an estimated half of the state’s abortion clinics were expected to close as a result. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld the Louisiana law in a 2-1 decision, which found “no evidence” that the law would force the closure of any abortion clinics.
A total of 13 Republican senators did not sign the amicus brief, including eight who are up for reelection this year, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
