Congressmen Mike Rogers, a Republican who represents Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, and Robert Aderholt, a Republican who represents Alabama’s 4th District, made statements expressing disappointment after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s abortion law in June Medical Services v. Russo.
“I am very disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision to strike down the Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals,” Rogers wrote. “This commonsense law sought to protect the health and safety of women and their unborn babies. This reckless decision is just further evidence of activist judges pursuing their political agenda.”
“To say this decision by the Supreme Court is extremely disappointing is an understatement,” Aderholt wrote. “The Court’s ruling sides in favor of abortion providers rather than the health of the women they claim to care for. The law was reasonable and was passed in Louisiana with both Democrat and Republican support.”
“The idea that a doctor who performs abortions should have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital is not unreasonable,” Aderholt said. “In fact, I believe it is irresponsible for them not to have such privileges. A state should be allowed to provide these basic protections for the women at these clinics, just like they are required at other outpatient surgical centers. Why would the Court leave these women vulnerable to dangerous complications when the state legislature had sought these protections?”
“This decision by the Court is a setback, but it’s also a rallying cry for those who, like me, believe in the sanctity of life and protecting the unborn, as well as the women involved,” Aderholt said. “It also shines an even brighter light on why elections are so important, especially the upcoming Presidential election.”
“Our fight to protect the rights of unborn children is and will be a long one. I will never give up on this effort until all of God’s precious children, both born and unborn, are protected,” Rogers said.
Both Rogers and Aderholt are attorneys.
The U.S. Supreme Court released a plurality 4-1-4 opinion siding with the lower court that struck down the Louisiana state law known as the “Unsafe Abortion Protection Act,” which requires doctors performing abortions to have admission privileges at a state-authorized hospital within 30 miles of the abortion center.
Four justices — Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan — concluded that the state was barred from raising standing because they did not press that argument in the lower courts, even though the Court of Appeals ruled on standing, and that the findings of the lower district court were not “clearly erroneous.”
Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote, whose refusal to take either side resulted in a narrow win for the Court’s four liberal justices.
Justice Clarence Thomas filed a strong dissent, which no other Justice joined, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing, and that the abortion decisions were not supported by the Constitution. Thomas states that the Court’s abortion decisions are “a creation that should be undone.” He also states that Roe v. Wade “is grievously wrong for many reasons.”
Alito filed his own dissent. Thomas and Justrice Brett Kavanaugh joined in part. Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch also filed separate dissents.
Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief at the High Court on behalf of Operation Rescue and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) in June.
Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Today’s opinion is another Supreme blunder by the High Court in a long line of erroneous abortion cases that have no basis in the Constitution. The ‘Unsafe Abortion Protection Act’ is a reasonable and constitutional regulation. For now, the abortion doctors in Louisiana will continue to operate below the standard of care required by all other doctors performing outpatient surgery. Until the day finally comes when unborn children are no longer violently killed by abortion, states must at least offer legislation that protects women from the unsafe, unlawful, grossly negligent, and filthy practices that result from abortionists like Kermit Gosnell.”
The ruling was yet another blow to Pro-Life advocates who had been hoping that the Court would eventually allow the states to make their own decisions on whether or not to allow or regulate abortion.
Rogers and Aderholt are both staunch defenders of the right to life in Congress.
Rogers joined over 200 Members of Congress in filing an amicus brief in support of Louisiana’s pro-life law led by Louisiana Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise and Republican Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Alabama has a similar abortion safety law that had been blocked in federal court.
