“Judge Neil Gorsuch brings the right judicial temperament and perspective on the law to the high court,” noted AUL’s Clarke Forsythe. “At AUL, we know that Roe v. Wade can be overturned, but to understand that, Americans need a better understanding of the law impacting life.”
MEDIA ALERT:
Leading up to the hearings, visit aul.org/SCOTUS101 for Daily Legal Analysis of Life in the Law AND for daily legal analysis during Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings. AUL staff attorney Deanna Wallace will be available for comment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (03-13-17) – In advance of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, Americans United for Life’s Legal Team is launching a special SCOTUS101 project to highlight some of the crucial legal principles impacting Gorsuch’s nomination and his potential tenure on the Court. “Prior to the hearings, SCOTUS101 will educate Americans on key issues impacting life-related laws. These laws, including those restricting and regulating abortion, will likely be discussed during the confirmation hearings,” said Americans United for Life Acting President and Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe. “During the hearings, AUL, the legal architect of the pro-life movement, will provide daily analysis of the testimony, supplying a unique perspective drawn from more than 40 years of drafting, advocating for, and defending laws impacting life and looking forward to a world after Roe v. Wade, when the states will again decide how best to protect mothers and their unborn children.”
MEDIA NOTE: AUL Staff attorney Deanna Wallace will be providing daily analysis of the issues discussed during the hearings. For interviews e-mail [email protected]
Writing at The Federalist, Wallace noted that, in the Hobby Lobby case, Judge Gorsuch relied on both science and the law in prioritizing the First Amendment conscience rights of all Americans over the Obama Administration’s coercive mandate that employers including coverage for life-ending drugs and devices in all health insurance plans.
She observed:
“Medical studies demonstrate that certain contraceptive drugs and devices have post-fertilization mechanisms of action that can prevent the implantation of the already developing human embryo. For example, the FDA’s approved-labeling information provided to consumers regarding two of the drugs– Plan B and ella– openly acknowledge that both drugs “may inhibit implantation” of the already developing human embryo. Further, FDA approved-labeling information and studies regarding the efficacy of copper Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) indicate that they also have post-fertilization effects. In fact, clinical guidelines published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists explicitly states ‘[p]ostfertilization effects, including damage to or destruction of the fertilized ovum, also may occur.’ It is precisely this scientifically proven ‘damage or destruction’ of a developing human embryo that violated the conscience rights of Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters.
“When Gorsuch acknowledged in his concurring opinion that the HHS Mandate compelled Hobby Lobby to subsidize payment ‘for drugs or devices that can have the effect of destroying a fertilized human egg,’ he not only had science on his side, he also had the law on his side.”
For the Record: AUL at the Supreme Court.
Since 1972, AUL has been involved in more than 100 federal and state cases across the country and internationally, including every significant abortion-related case before the Supreme Court including Roe v. Wade. AUL has filed more amicus curiae (or “friend of the court”) briefs than any other pro-life organization, further solidifying its position as the legal architect of the pro-life movement.
In 1980, Americans United for Life won a historic victory when we successfully defended the Hyde Amendment before the Supreme Court in Harris v. McRae. This important court decision upheld federal and state prohibitions on public funding of abortion except in the case of the life of the mother.
AUL’s leadership on pro-life law and policy has been recognized four times by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee when AUL was asked to address pro-life concerns in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees. AUL leaders testified during confirmation hearings for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
To book interviews on the issues addressed at #SCOTUS101 and during the hearings, e-mail [email protected].
