Here is a link to a LifeNews.com story about a recent decision by a federal judge invalidating Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks. The judge noted that if it wants to overturn Roe v. Wade then the state will “have to seek that relief from a higher court.” It seems likely that the state of Mississippi will try to do just that.
Judge Carlton Reeves’s opinion is almost beyond belief. Under existing law, his ruling is not a surprise. But the opinion contains some rather stunning observations. I’ll mention just one such observation. Judge Reeves seems to accept Justice Blackmun’s view that history demonstrates that there was a historical recognition of the right to an abortion. This historical account is deeply flawed, as many scholars have made clear. Despite Justice Blackmun’s efforts to argue to the contrary, John Keown’s scholarship makes clear that “Roe’s invention of a constitutional right to abortion represented a radical rejection of America’s longstanding history and traditions.”