June Medical Services v. Gee

In March 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court will once again turn to the issue of abortion. Ever since seven men on the U.S. Supreme Court handed down their wrongly decided decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion has been a hotly contested and fundamentally political issue.

Unfortunately, the political nature of the fight over abortion often obscures the real and concrete human rights of both mothers and their children, who are (or should be) the true focus of America’s attention, love, and support.

As Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas observed in his 2019 Box v. Planned Parenthood concurrence, the issue of abortion will not go away until the U.S. Supreme Court properly recognizes the human right to life:

[W]e cannot avoid [abortion-related issues] forever. Having created the constitutional right to an abortion, this Court is dutybound to address its scope. In that regard, it is easy to understand why the District Court and the Seventh Circuit looked to Casey to resolve a question it did not address. Where else could they turn? The Constitution itself is silent on abortion.

When the U.S. Supreme Court once again turns to consider abortion in 2020 in June Medical Services v. Gee, the high court will have the opportunity to affirm the constitutionality of Louisiana’s “Unsafe Abortion Protection Act,” a law sponsored by Rep. Katrina Jackson, a Louisiana Democrat.

The legislation at the heart of Gee ensures that no woman can be abandoned by an abortion practitioner, and that when a woman’s life is threatened from complications arising from an abortion, emergency transfer laws will ensure her access to life-saving medical care.

Americans United for Life firmly believes:

All women have a right to emergency care in medicine.
Abortion centers are often dirty, dangerous, and harmful to women.
It is common sense for Louisiana to require that abortion practitioners meet the same medical standards as ordinary physicians.
June Medical Services, the abortion interest in this case, is in essence fighting for the right to abandon their patients—and in no normal practice of medicine would this be tolerated.

And the American people overwhelmingly agree with Americans United for Life and Louisiana, according to a nonpartisan Americans United for Life/YouGov national survey. Among the survey’s key findings:

A vast majority of Americans (78.2%) believe that physicians performing abortions should be able to transfer women who experience complications directly to the emergency room;
70% agree that abortion facilities should be held to the same medical standards as any ordinary hospital;
73.8% support states being able to pass safeguards that ensure abortion facilities are in compliance with basic medical practices and sanitation;
Three out of four Americans agree that abortion doctors should be held to the same medical standards as ordinary physicians; and
Of those surveyed,43.3% were self-identified pro-choice, 35.5% were pro-life, and 23.9% were neither.

Americans United for Life continues to cover the issues at the heart of June Medical Services v. Gee, including through “Life, Liberty, and Law,” our weekly podcast:

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