Thomas More Society files amicus brief supporting Indiana law banning most abortions

By Natalie Hoefer

The Thomas More Society, a not-for-profit, national public interest law firm, has submitted an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief to the Indiana Supreme Court supporting the state in a suit filed on Aug. 30 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Planned Parenthood Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Inc., et al. The lawsuit claims that Indiana’s recently passed law protecting most unborn lives violates rights, privileges and protections granted in the state’s constitution.

In an Oct. 31 press release, Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel of the Thomas More Society, quoted from the brief, saying, “Nothing in the language, history, or interpretation of the Indiana Constitution supports a right to abortion, especially in light of Indiana’s prohibition of abortion going back to 1835, sixteen years before the relevant part of that constitution was adopted.”

The law in question was enacted by the Indiana General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb on Aug. 5.

It bans most abortions except in cases of rape, incest and specific medical conditions.

“This law passes the constitutional litmus test,” said Breen.

The amicus brief “submits that article 1 [regarding inalienable rights] does not create any judicially enforceable rights. That is because the language … does not provide courts with an ascertainable standard which could be applied to evaluate [the] ‘inalienable rights’ claims” of the lawsuit.

It goes on to state that neither the “plaintiffs nor the circuit court pointed to anything in the language, history or interpretation of [article 1] that indicates that the liberty language of [the article] confers a right to abortion. The language of [the article] says nothing about a right to abortion. And neither the history nor the interpretation of [article 1] (or any other provision of the Indiana Constitution) supports recognition of a state constitutional right to abortion.”

The lawsuit, filed in a Monroe County court, has triggered several actions, the first of which was the issuing on Sept. 22 of a preliminary injunction on the law, which had gone into effect on Sept. 15. This action set the state law to its status prior to the ban, again allowing abortions in the state up to 22 weeks gestation.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sought to bypass the appeals court and asked the Indiana Supreme Court to take over the case and to lift the temporary injunction. The court agreed on Oct. 12 to take the case but left the temporary injunction in place until a decision is reached. Oral arguments before the supreme court in the case will begin in January.

“The circuit court’s decision to halt enforcement of Indiana’s new protections for unborn children is unsupported in Indiana law and history,” Breen said.

In response to the announcement that the temporary injunction would remain in place, Indiana Right to Life CEO Mike Fichter stated that the organization estimates “at least 3,000 unborn babies, whose lives otherwise might have been saved, will now needlessly die from abortion as the law remains blocked. Thousands more will die as we await a final ruling after the January hearing. Although we are confident the law will be upheld, it will be far too late for those whose lives will be lost as this is argued in the courts.”

According to its website, the Chicago-based Thomas More Society is a “not-for-profit, national law firm dedicated on to restoring respect in law for life, family, religious liberty, and election integrity. … [The firm] fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court.”
 

(To read the entire brief, go to cutt.ly/Oct31AmicusBrief.) †