WASHINGTON, D.C. (Special) – Five members of the Mississippi delegation are among more than 200 members of the U.S. Congress who have filed an amicus brief supporting the State of Mississippi and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a pro-life measure from the state, according to a press release from the office of the state’s senior U.S. Senator, Republican Roger Wicker.
Amicus briefs, commonly called friend of the court briefs, are filed by people who take the same position as one side in a contested lawsuit, in support of a cause that has some bearing on the issues in the case. An amicus brief carries no actual weight in the final disposition of a case.
The court is expected to take up Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization during its session that begins in October. The question to be answered by the court is whether the State of Mississippi can prohibit abortion after 15 weeks, but pro-life groups are hoping the case is the first step to overturning Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, the two cases the Supreme Court used to legalize abortion nationally across all nine months of human gestation.
In addition to Wicker, members of the Mississippi delegation who signed on to the brief include:
— Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican.
— First District Congressman Trent Kelly, a Republican.
— Third District Congressman Michael Guest, a Republican.
— Fourth District Congressman Steven Palazzo, a Republican.
Mississippi’s Second District Congressman, Democrat Bennie Thompson, did not participate in the amicus brief. In total, 44 Senators and 184 members of the House of Representatives signed the brief.
“Mississippi is at the forefront of the fight for life, and I am glad to lead the charge in Congress on behalf of the unborn,” Wicker said. “For too long, the precedents of Roe and Casey have prevented states from taking meaningful steps to protect life in the womb.”
Hyde-Smith said, “As a Senator, as a woman, and as a mother, I think this case offers us a chance to overturn Roe and return the abortion issue to the political process and away from activist judges.”
“We are pleased to join this important brief,” Kelly said. “Mississippians believe in the sanctity of life and our values to defend the unborn should be safeguarded.”
“Mississippi remains united in our desire to protect the lives of our unborn children, which is why the Mississippi delegation has come together to support the right to life movement in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court,” reported Guest.
“This case offers a monumental opportunity for the highest court in the land to recognize states’ right to defend the unborn. I stand with my colleagues and urge the Supreme Court to stand up for the countless innocent lives at the heart of this case,” Palazzo said.
The amicus brief asks the Supreme Court to “uphold Mississippi’s law as effectuating important state interests, or, alternatively, return this case to the lower courts for consideration on a full evidentiary record, recognizing that certain precedents [Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey] may be reconsidered and, where necessary, be wholly or partially overruled.”
The State of Mississippi in 2018 enacted the Gestational Age Act, a state law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks gestation except in cases of medical emergency. Mississippi’s sole operating abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Jackson, sued on the grounds that the law violates the viability standard established by Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed the decision of U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, an appointee of former U.S. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, after Reeves struck down the law and declared that it “unequivocally” violates a woman’s constitutional right to abortion.
