by Steve Kokx
Minnesota’s leading pro-family advocacy group has formally thrown its support behind an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that could overturn Roe v. Wade.
On July 29 of this year, the Minnesota Family Council filed an amicus brief for the court’s fall hearing of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
The case involves whether a law passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 2018 banning abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy is unconstitutional. It’s the first time the court will decide on the constitutionality of a “pre-viability” abortion ban since Roe was decided in 1973.
Pro-abortion groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights are worried the new composition of the court could mean abortion rights are rolled back.
“Alarm bells are ringing loudly about the threat to reproductive rights,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center, said recently. “The Supreme Court just agreed to review an abortion ban that unquestionably violates nearly 50 years of Supreme Court precedent.”
Other groups that have filed briefs for the case include Illinois Right to Life, the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Biloxi and Jackson (both located in Mississippi), and former Vice President Mike Pence’s 501(c)(4) group Advancing American Freedom.
“We’re grateful for the support of former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization … in bringing this brief to the Court,” Minnesota Family Council CEO John Helmberger said in a press release last month.
“He recognizes, as do our attorneys and other allied organizations, the harms to women and girls from Roe, and all the cases that follow it, are incalculable.”
True North Legal, the Minnesota Family Council’s legal initiative that authored the brief, argues that the harms to women and families due to current abortion laws have not been fully addressed by the court.
“Roe and its progeny are the catalyst to … social atrocities,” the brief states. “Roe has turned statutory rape laws designed to protect young women into a license to cover up crimes against them.”
Renee Carlson, True North Legal’s general counsel, co-authored the brief along with Professor Teresa Collett of the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Collett serves as the director of the Law School’s Prolife Center.
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Steve Kokx is a journalist for AlphaNews.
Photo “Pro-Life” by Jordan Uhi. CC BY 2.0.
