Response On U.S. Supreme Court Abortion Decision

  • Monday, June 27, 2016

In a 5-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court on Monday found women’s health provisions passed in Texas were unconstitutional. The case was Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Two provisions of the Texas law were challenged: admitting privileges for doctors and surgical standards.

Reaction included:

State Senator Becky Duncan Massey (R-Knoxville) said, "Women's health should not be a political football. Today's decision undermines several initiatives to ensure women and their safety are prioritized. We will recommit to ensuring Tennessee stays on the path of valuing life, health, and safety."

State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) stated, "Today's Supreme Court decision is a disappointing moment for women's health in Tennessee. Once again, the Court has found a way to circumvent the will of the people. I am firmly committed to making sure that life is protected and that women are not put into risky medical situations. That's what we will continue working toward in the General Assembly."

Tennessee Republican Party National Committeewoman Peggy Lambert said, "It is not a mistake that life is the first inalienable right. This dangerous decision puts women at risk and ensures that more innocent lives will be taken. As a Party, we are committed to advancing proposals that value the essential human right to life and fighting back against an industry that values profit over safety."

n response to the decision, the state Republican Party launched a pro-life petition "to rally Tennesseans around the causes of women’s health and the protection of life."

The petition may be found at: www.IwillChooseLife.com 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) said, “I am very disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down commonsense regulations of the abortion industry.  This decision erodes the right of states to ensure the health and safety of mothers undergoing an abortion.  The decision also underscores the need for pro-life leaders who will stand up for patient safety and the unborn.”

Grant Starrett, Republican candidate for Congress in Tennessee's 4th District, said, "I condemn the Supreme Court's exercise in judicial activism today in striking down Texas's common-sense regulations of abortion providers that required that abortionists have admitting privileges at hospitals and that abortion clinics meet the same standards as outpatient surgical clinics. Our moral crisis is worsened when an activist Supreme Court strikes down reasonable regulations on abortion providers or when the nation's largest abortion provider is caught selling dead baby parts and Congressman Scott DesJarlais doesn't ask them a single question to justify their federal subsidy.

"Justice Thomas wrote (quoting the late Justice Scalia), today's 'decision exemplifies the Court’s troubling tendency “to bend the rules when any effort to limit abortion, or even to speak in opposition to abortion, is at issue.'”  And I agree with Justice Alito that the 'Court’s patent refusal to apply well-established law in a neutral way is indefensible and will undermine public confidence in the Court as a fair and neutral arbiter.'

"We need conservative justices willing to apply the law, not their own agenda. And we need conservative legislators willing to stand up for life."

The decision is at:  http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-274_p8k0.pdf

 

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