Thomas More Society
brief argues that state constitution
does not grant “right
to abortion”
(March 16, 2017
– Topeka, Kansas) Today, the Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit
dealing with the state’s law prohibiting the performance of dismemberment
(dilation and evacuation) abortions on live, unborn children. The
Thomas More Society’s friend of the court (amicus) brief in Hodes v.
Schmidt supports the ban, which is being challenged by two abortionists,
Dr. Herbert Hodes and his daughter, Dr. Traci Nauser. The law was passed
by the Kansas legislature and signed into law by Governor Sam Brownback.
The plaintiffs argue that the
measure violates Section One of the Kansas Bill of Rights, which provides that,
“all men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Hodes and Nauser insist
that this phrasing guarantees a woman a right to abortion at any stage. A
state trial court entered a temporary injunction against the ban and a divided
appellate court affirmed that injunction.
The Thomas More Society brief was
filed by Special Counsel Paul Benjamin Linton on behalf of the Family Research
Council, a national organization dedicated to promotion of marriage, family and
the sanctity of human life. Linton maintains that the Kansas Bill of Rights'
provision cited does not create a right to abortion in Kansas and therefore
cannot be used to block enforcement of the state law that aims to end the
widely-opposed gruesome practice of dismemberment
abortions.
A constitutional scholar, Linton
reviews similar provisions from 28 other states, none of which support the view
that Kansas' Bill of Rights provision creates a right to abortion. In fact,
Kansas outlawed abortion until Roe v. Wade. Linton points out that
Kansas courts have never previously interpreted Section One of the Kansas Bill
of Rights to create judicially enforceable substantive rights, and he
demonstrates that the dismembering of live, unborn children has no foundation
in the Kansas constitutional law.
Read the Brief Amicus Curiae of
the Family Research Council filed by the Thomas More Society in the case of
Hodes v. Schmidt, heard March 16, 2017,
in the Supreme Court of Kansas here.
About Paul Linton
Paul Benjamin Linton,
Thomas More Society Special Counsel, is a constitutional scholar based in
Northbrook, Illinois. He is the author of a standard legal treatise entitled, Abortion Under State Constitutions, A
State-by-State Analysis (Carolina Academic Press, 2nd edition, 2012), for
which principal funding was provided by the Thomas More Society.
About the Thomas More Society
The Thomas More Society
is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for
life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the
Thomas More Society 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. For more information, visit
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