“At every turn, the abortion industry fights health and safety standards that offer real protection to women, going to court to keep profits high and standards low,” said AUL’s Denise Burke. “They’ll invest money in attorneys, but not in protecting women.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (02-23-16) – Americans United for Life has been the leader in developing constitutionally sound model legislation designed to equip elected officials with tools to protect women and their unborn children from the abortion industry. Such legislation is the subject of the case to be argued before the Supreme Court on March 2, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (formerly Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole v. Cole). AUL attorneys were advocates for Texas House Bill 2, the pro-life law enacted in Texas and now in court as a result of abortion industry objections to following the laws that protect women in other healthcare settings.
AUL also filed an amicus curie (friend of the court) brief, along with co-counsel The Bioethics Defense Fund, representing more than 460 Republicans and Democrats state legislators and officeholders from across the nation and demonstrating to the Court that state efforts to protect women through reasonable health and safety standards must be upheld for reasons of common sense and medical reality.
AUL Experts available for interview, before the arguments and at the Supreme Court March 2:
AUL Acting President and Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe, foremost legal expert on abortion law, author of Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade, published by Encounter Books in 2013. His thirty-one years of service to AUL includes founding and directing the AUL Project in Law & Bioethics and arguing cases before federal and state courts, as well as testifying before Congress and state legislatures.
AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs Denise Burke, editor of Defending Life, drafter of pro-life legislation including health and safety standards for abortion providers, and co-author of AUL’s amicus brief filed in the Texas case.
AUL attorney Anna Paprocki is a contributing author to AUL’s publication Defending Life and a leading expert on Planned Parenthood’s predatory corporate practices.
The case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, involves Texas House Bill 2, a measure enacted in 2013 with a number of life-affirming provisions. Placing profit above women’s health, abortion providers challenged provisions requiring them to meet the same health and safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), as well as to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. In June 2015, the Fifth Circuit upheld the provisions, and abortion providers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in their continued effort to avoid compliance with the commonsense requirements.
AUL has been active in this case since its inception. In addition to providing expert consultation on the constitutionality of HB 2 before and after it was enacted, AUL filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit on behalf of Texas Legislators.
AUL’s current brief, available here, was filed on behalf of more than 460 officeholders from states with provisions similar to the Texas health and safety standards. The brief demonstrates that the Supreme Court has promised “wide discretion” to state lawmakers in the regulation of abortion and has given significant deference to legislative determinations as to the medical necessity for enacting health and safety regulations. Here, both the legislative record and the evidence before the trial court confirm that the state acted in the best interest of women, and the Supreme Court must upheld HB 2.
For more on the health risks of abortion for women, click here.
