WASHINGTON, DC — Today, America First Legal (AFL) continued its momentous fight for the unborn, filing two legal briefs in the Supreme Court in defense of the unborn and SB8, the Texas Heartbeat Act.
The first brief opposes the Biden DOJ’s emergency application to vacate a stay entered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Texas. In that case, the Biden DOJ is attempting to sue the State of Texas and enjoin it from enforcing the Texas Heartbeat Act, even though there is no law that allows the federal government to sue a state over its abortion laws. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed a district-court decision that had unlawfully blocked the enforcement of the law, and the Biden Administration is seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court. But the Biden DOJ’s lawsuit is meritless. Among other things, federal courts do not have the power to enjoin state courts from adjudicating cases, nor do they have the power to enjoin individuals who are not even parties to a case. The Biden DOJ’s lawsuit lacks any basis in law and the Supreme Court should deny their radical request.
The second brief is a conditional cross-petition in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, the same case in which the Supreme Court previously rejected a group of abortion providers’ attempt to enjoin the enforcement of SB8. Rather than trying litigating the case on the merits at the district court and appellate court levels, those same abortion providers are now asking the Supreme Court to take the extraordinary step of deciding the case on the merits before the lower courts rule. In the cross-petition, AFL asks the Supreme Court—if it grants the abortion advocates’ extraordinary request—to directly overrule Roe v. Wade, which invented a constitutional “right” to abort an unborn child despite the utter lack of any textual support in the Constitution for such a right.
Statement From America First Legal President Stephen Miller:
“America First Legal is a brand new organization and yet we are already trailblazing new paths at the United States Supreme Court to protect unborn children from abortion. The two historic Supreme Court briefs we filed today—one, dismantling DOJ’s assault on the Texas Heartbeat Act and two, a cross-petition in response to DOJ calling for SCOTUS to overturn Roe v. Wade—are monumental defenses of unborn life. AFL is filing each of these SCOTUS briefs as private counsel in the Texas Heartbeat litigation,” Stephen Miller said.
Read AFL’s opposition brief in United States v. Texas here.
Read AFL’s conditional cross-petition in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson here.
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