WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both U.S. senators and five representatives from Indiana signed an amicus brief Thursday, calling for the Supreme Court to “take up the issue of whether Roe and Casey should be reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled.”
An amicus brief is a document filed in a case by those who aren’t a litigant. The dozens of federal lawmakers who signed the document aren’t affiliated with the case, but they want the court to know something about it.
The amicus brief was signed by 166 House Republicans and 39 Senate Republicans. Two House Democrats also signed the document. It was signed by Republican Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun as well as Republican Reps. James Baird, Jim Banks, Larry Bucshon, Greg Pence and Jackie Walorski.
Republican Reps. Susan Brooks and Trey Hollingsworth did not sign the document, nor did Indiana’s two Democratic representatives, André Carson and Peter Visclosky.
The actual case they wrote about is a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital, which has been a legal argument for decades.
The 35-page letter discusses both the Louisiana case and the overall issue of abortion in the United States, in both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
One section reads:
“Forty-six years after Roe was decided, it remains a radically unsettled precedent: two of the seven Justices who originally joined the majority subsequently repudiated it in whole or in part, and virtually every abortion decision since has been closely divided. Furthermore, Roe’s jurisprudence has been haphazard from the beginning. Roe did not actually hold that abortion was a “fundamental” constitutional right, but only implied it.”
RTV6 has reached out to all lawmakers from Indiana for comment on the document.
“All life is sacred," Bucshon said. "This basic principle guided my actions for 15 years as a physician, and continues to shape my thinking today as a policymaker. That’s why I proudly joined over 200 of my colleagues in the Congress to stand up for innocent life and for the ability of states to protect the lives and health of their citizens.”
“I’m glad the Supreme Court has chosen to hear this case," Baird said. "Every life is precious and we must remain diligent to protect the unborn.”
