Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and over 200 members of Congress in filing an amicus brief supporting the State of Mississippi in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Mississippi’s law protecting life.
“Mississippi’s case provides the [Supreme] Court a chance to release its vise grip on abortion politics, as Congress and the States have shown that they are ready and able to address the issue in ways that reflect Americans’ varying viewpoints and are grounded in the science of fetal development and maternal health,”the lawmakers wrote in the brief. “[We] respectfully urge the Court to affirm the constitutional authority of the federal and state governments to safeguard the lives and health of their citizens, born and not yet born.”
In 2018, the State of Mississippi enacted the Gestational Age Act, a state law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation, except in cases of medical emergency. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an abortion clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, sued on the grounds that the law violates the viability standard established by Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision on these grounds. The state filed its case with the Supreme Court on July 22, 2021, which is expected to hear it this fall.
A total of 44 senators signed onto this brief, with Senators Cramer, Wicker, and Hyde-Smith being joined by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Richard Shelby, (R-AL), James Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Burr, (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), James Risch (R-ID), Roy Blunt, (R-MO) Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), John Boozman (R-AR), Pat Toomey (R-PA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), Tim Scott (R-SC), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni K. Ernst (R-IA), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Dan Sullivan (R-AL), Todd Young (R-IN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and 184 members of the House of Representatives.