Amicus Curiae Brief — Thomas E. Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, et al., Petitioners v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, et al.
Supreme Court briefJul 20, 2020
Ask Donna
What actually matters in this document.
Text
No. 19-1392
In the Supreme Court of the United States
THOMAS E. DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL., PETITIONERS
v.
JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION, ET AL.
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR THE STATES OF TEXAS, ALABAMA,
ALASKA, ARIZONA, ARKANSAS, GEORGIA, IDAHO,
INDIANA, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA,
MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, SOUTH
CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, AND WEST VIRGINIA AS
AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas
JEFFREY C. MATEER
First Assistant Attorney
General
RYAN L. BANGERT
Deputy First Assistant
Attorney General
KYLE D. HAWKINS
Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
HEATHER GEBELIN HACKER
BETH KLUSMANN
Assistant Solicitors General
OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL
P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059)
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
Kyle.Hawkins@oag.texas.gov
(512) 936-1700
QU E S TIO N P RE SE N TE D
Whether an abortion law is necessarily unconstitutional, regardless of the State’s interest or the actual
burden on women, when it theoretically could prevent a
small number of women from obtaining a previability
abortion.
(I)
TA BLE O F C O NTE N TS
Page
Question presented .......................................................... I
Table of authorities ....................................................... IV
Interest of amici curiae ................................................... 1
Summary of argument..................................................... 2
Argument.......................................................................... 4
I. The Fifth Circuit erroneously failed to apply the
undue-burden test. ............................................... 4
A. States may enact laws that impact the ability
to obtain a previability abortion. ................... 5
1. Regulations of previability abortion are
subject to the undue-burden test............. 5
2. Applying the undue-burden test would
have made a difference in this case. ........ 7
B. Casey’s viability framework does not
preclude consideration of other important
state interests. ................................................ 9
C. Abortion providers are attempting to avoid
scrutiny by claiming laws are “bans.” ......... 12
II. Medical and scientific advances require
reconsideration of the viability framework. ..... 14
A. Changed circumstances require the Court to
reevaluate its viability precedent. ............... 14
B. New medical and scientific developments
undermine the viability framework............. 16
C. If the viability line is absolute, only this
Court can move it.......................................... 18
III. The Court should condemn the district court’s
rhetoric. ............................................................... 19
Conclusion ...................................................................... 21
(III)
IV
TA BLE O F AU T HO R I TIE S
Page(s)
Cases:
Abbott v. Perez,
138 S. Ct. 2305 (2018) ............................................... 2, 19
In re Abbott,
954 F.3d 772 (5th Cir. 2020) ........................................ 13
In re Abbott,
956 F.3d 696 (5th Cir. 2020) ........................................ 20
Adams & Boyle, PC v. Slatery,
956 F.3d 913 (6th Cir. 2020) ........................................ 13
Atkins v. Virginia,
536 U.S. 304 (2002) ....................................................... 17
Bernard v. Individual Members of Ind. Med.
Licensing Bd.,
392 F. Supp. 3d 935 (S.D. Ind. 2019) .......................... 20
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc.,
139 S. Ct. 1780 (2019) ................................. 10, 11, 13, 18
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc.,
No. 18-1019, 2020 WL 3578669 (U.S. July 2, 2020) ..... 3
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc.,
No. 19-816, 2020 WL 3578672 (U.S. July 2, 2020) ....... 3
Bryant v. Woodall,
363 F. Supp. 3d 611 (M.D.N.C. 2019) ....................... 5, 7
City of Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reprod.
Health, Inc.,
462 U.S. 416 (1983) ................................................. 15, 17
Doe v. Bolton,
410 U.S. 179 (1973) ....................................................... 11
In re Gee,
941 F.3d 153 (5th Cir. 2019) ........................................ 20
V
Cases—Continued:
Page(s)
Gonzales v. Carhart,
550 U.S. 124 (2007) ............................. 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, 18
Grutter v. Bollinger,
539 U.S. 306 (2003) ....................................................... 12
Isaacson v. Horne,
716 F.3d 1213 (9th Cir. 2013) .................................... 5, 7
Jackson Women’s Health Org. v. Currier,
349 F. Supp. 3d 536 (S.D. Miss. 2018) ............ 1, 2, 8, 19
Jackson Women’s Health Org. v. Dobbs,
945 F.3d 265 (5th Cir. 2019) ........................ 1, 5, 6, 9, 19
June Med. Servs. LLC v. Russo,
Nos. 18-1323, 18-1460, 2020 WL 3492640
(U.S. June 29, 2020)............................................. passim
Little Rock Family Planning Servs. v.
Rutledge,
397 F. Supp. 3d 1213 (E.D. Ark. 2019) ......................... 7
Marks v. United States,
430 U.S. 188 (1977) ......................................................... 2
McCorvey v. Hill,
385 F.3d 846 (5th Cir. 2004) ................................... 14-15
MKB Mgmt. Corp. v. Stenehjem,
795 F.3d 768 (8th Cir. 2015) ........................................ 15
Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc. v.
Comm’r of Ind. State Dep’t of Health,
888 F.3d 300 (7th Cir. 2018) .................................. 13, 15
Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc. v.
Comm’r of Ind. State Dep’t of Health,
917 F.3d 532 (7th Cir. 2018) ........................................ 10
Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v. Casey,
505 U.S. 833 (1992) .............................................. passim
VI
Cases—Continued:
Page(s)
Preterm-Cleveland v. Himes,
294 F. Supp. 3d 746 (S.D. Ohio 2018) ......................... 13
Preterm-Cleveland v. Himes,
944 F.3d 630 (6th Cir. 2019) ........................................ 13
Reed v. Town of Gilbert,
576 U.S. 155 (2015) ................................................... 7, 12
Roe v. Wade,
410 U.S. 113 (1973) ................................... 6, 8, 10, 11, 14
In re Rutledge,
956 F.3d 1018 (8th Cir. 2020) ................................. 12-13
SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Justice
Collective v. Kemp,
1:19-CV-02973-SCJ, 2020 WL 3958227
(N.D. Ga. July 13, 2020) ................................................. 7
Stenberg v. Carhart,
530 U.S. 914 (2000) ....................................................... 17
Tex. Med. Providers Performing Abortion
Servs. v. Lakey,
No. A-11-CA-486-SS, 2012 WL 373132
(W.D. Tex. Feb. 6, 2012) .............................................. 20
Webster v. Reprod. Health Servs.,
492 U.S. 490 (1989) ................................................. 11, 18
Statutes:
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003,
Pub. L. No. 108-105, 117 Stat. 1201 (2003) ................ 16
Ala. Code § 26-23B-5(a) ..................................................... 17
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2159(B) ............................................. 17
VII
Statutes—Continued:
Page(s)
Ark. Code:
§ 20-16-1405(a)(1) ......................................................... 17
§ 20-16-2002................................................................... 16
Ga. Code § 16-12-141(b) ..................................................... 17
Idaho Code:
§ 18-503 .......................................................................... 16
§ 18-505 .......................................................................... 17
Ind. Code § 16-34-2-1(a)(3) ................................................ 17
Iowa Code § 146B.2(2)(a)................................................... 17
Kan. Stat.:
§ 65-6723(f) .................................................................... 17
§ 65-6724(a) ................................................................... 17
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 311.782(1) ................................................ 17
La. Stat. § 40:1061.1(E) ..................................................... 17
Miss. Code:
§ 41-41-137..................................................................... 17
§ 41-41-191(2) .................................................................. 8
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.058(1) ................................................ 17
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-45.1(a) ............................................... 17
N.D. Cent. Code § 14-02.1-05.3(3) .................................... 17
Neb. Rev. Stat.:
§ 28-3,104 .................................................................. 16-17
§ 28-3,106 ....................................................................... 17
Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.201(A) ........................................... 17
Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 1-745.5(A) .......................................... 17
S.C. Code § 44-41-450(A) ................................................... 17
S.D. Codified Laws § 34-23A-70 ....................................... 17
Tex. Health & Safety Code § 171.044 .............................. 17
Utah Code § 76-7-302.5 ...................................................... 17
VIII
Statutes—Continued:
Page(s)
W. Va. Code:
§ 16-2M-2 ....................................................................... 17
§ 16-2M-4(a) .................................................................. 17
Other Authorities:
A. Pawlowski, ‘Miracle baby’: Born at 21
Weeks, She May Be the Most Premature
Surviving Infant (Nov. 2017),
https://www.today.com/health/born-21weeks-she-may-be-most-prematuresurviving-baby-t118610 ............................................... 15
Compl., Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v.
Hill, No. 1:18-CV-1904 (S.D. Ind. June 21,
2018) ............................................................................... 18
Compl., Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v.
Paxton, No. 1:18-CV-00500 (W.D. Tex.
June 14, 2018) .......................................................... 18-19
Fox Television, Extreme Preemie, ‘About the
Size of a Hand,’ Goes Home in Georgia
(July 2020), https://fox6now.com/2020/
07/01/extreme-preemie-comes-home-forfirst-time/ ...................................................................... 15
Mem. of Law in Support of Plfs.’ Emergency
Mot. for TRO & Prelim. Injunctive Relief,
Robinson v. Marshall, No. 2:19-cv-00365MHT-JTA, (M.D. Ala. Mar. 30, 2020) ........................ 13
Mem. of Law Supporting Ex Parte TRO or
Prelim. Inj., Little Rock Family Planning
Servs. v. Rutledge, No. 4:19-CV-00449-KGB
(E.D. Ark. Apr. 13, 2020) ............................................. 13
IX
Other Authorities—Continued:
Page(s)
Mot. for & Br. in Support of TRO and/or
Prelim. Inj., Preterm-Cleveland, Inc. v.
Yost, No. 1:19-cv-00360 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 30,
2020) ............................................................................... 13
Mot. for TRO and/or Prelim. Inj., Planned
Parenthood Ctr. for Choice v. Abbott, No.
1:20-cv-00323-LY (W.D. Tex. Mar. 25, 2020)............. 13
Order, Jackson Women’s Health Org. v. Dobbs,
No. 3:18-CV-00171-CWR-FKB (S.D. Miss.
Aug. 15, 2018) .................................................................. 8
Stuart W.G. Derbyshire & John C. Bockmann,
Reconsidering Fetal Pain, 46 J. of Med.
Ethics, no. 1 (2019) ....................................................... 16
INTE RE ST O F A MIC I C U RI AE
Amici curiae are the States of Texas, Alabama,
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. 1
This case implicates Amici States’ interests in several
ways. First, Amici States regulate previability abortion,
and many have laws that prohibit abortions after 20 or
22 weeks LMP. See infra p. 17 n.8. The district court’s
opinion below casts doubt on the lawfulness of any restriction on the right to abortion prior to 23 weeks LMP.
Jackson Women’s Health Org. v. Currier, 349 F. Supp.
3d 536, 539-40 (S.D. Miss. 2018). And in affirming the district court’s judgment, the Fifth Circuit applied a test
that would invalidate automatically any law that might
prevent some previability abortions, without regard to
the State’s interest and the law’s burden. See Jackson
Women’s Health Org. v. Dobbs, 945 F.3d 265, 273 (5th
Cir. 2019). The Fifth Circuit’s test is incorrect, as this
Court recently confirmed in June Medical Services LLC
v. Russo, Nos. 18-1323, 18-1460, 2020 WL 3492640 (U.S.
June 29, 2020), and if left intact, it calls into question
Amici States’ ability to enforce their laws.
Second, the decisions below curtail Amici States’ ability to put on evidence of new medical and scientific discoveries regarding fetal development and fetal pain. By
treating viability as the only relevant consideration, the
decisions below depart from this Court’s precedents in a
No counsel for any party authored this brief, in whole or in
part. No person or entity other than amici contributed monetarily
to its preparation or submission. On July 6, 2020, counsel of record
for all parties received notice of amici’s intention to file this brief.
1
(1)
2
way that would effectively prevent Amici States from relying on advances in medicine and science to better craft
optimal public policy. The decisions below were wrong to
disregard the States’ obvious interest in legislating according to the latest scientific knowledge.
Finally, the decisions below wrongly impugn the motives of Mississippi and any other State that values unborn life. The district court tarnished Mississippi’s abortion regulation as the product of decades-old racism and
sexism. Jackson Women’s, 349 F. Supp. 3d at 540 n.22,
543 n.40. States should be able to defend their laws before a fair forum that presumes good faith, see, e.g., Abbott v. Perez, 138 S. Ct. 2305, 2324 (2018), not one quick
to condemn state legislators, without any evidence, as
bigots. This Court should denounce the district court’s
baseless aspersions.
SU M MA RY O F AR GU ME NT
I. By adopting a novel constitutional test that asks
only whether some unknown number of women might be
prevented from obtaining a previability abortion, the
Fifth Circuit’s decision conflicts with both Casey and
June Medical, which require courts to assess whether an
abortion law is reasonably related to a legitimate state
interest, and whether the law presents a substantial
obstacle to abortion access. June Med., 2020 WL
3492640, at *23 (Roberts, C.J., concurring in the judgment) (citing Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v. Casey,
505 U.S. 833, 878 (1992) (plurality op.)). 2 The Fifth
As the narrowest ground for the Court’s decision to reverse in
June Medical, Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion is controlling. Marks
v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 193 (1977). Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to June Medical are to the Chief Justice’s controlling opinion.
2
3
Circuit refused to follow Casey and instead applied a
novel test that renders irrelevant both the impact of a
law and whether the State has an interest in the
excruciating pain an unborn child experiences as it is
torn limb from limb during an abortion. The Fifth
Circuit’s test treats the right to previability abortion as
absolute such that no state interest could ever justify any
limitation of abortion previability. But no other
constitutional right enjoys such absolute unquestioning
protection, which perhaps is why Roe and Casey do not
elevate the abortion right above all others.
Since the decision below rests on plainly incorrect
reasoning, this Court should at a minimum grant, vacate,
and remand so that the Fifth Circuit can apply the
undue-burden test as reaffirmed in June Medical. See,
e.g., Box v. Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc., No.
18-1019, 2020 WL 3578669 (U.S. July 2, 2020); Box v.
Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc., No. 19-816, 2020
WL 3578672 (U.S. July 2, 2020). But the better course is
to set this case for plenary review. It is time for this
Court to clarify that all abortion laws, no matter whether
they “ban,” “prohibit,” or “regulate” previability
abortion, are subject to the undue-burden test.
II. The decisions below prevent States from offering
scientific evidence that undermines the factual assumptions the Court relied on in Roe and Casey. Yet Roe and
Casey themselves plainly contemplate that state legislatures may fine-tune regulations in response to evolving
medical information. That is the case here: In the 47
years since Roe, innumerable advances in science and
medicine inform our understanding of fetal development
and the capacity to experience pain.
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to Casey are to the plurality opinion.
4
Yet the district court declared all scientific developments irrelevant and the viability line absolute. Not only
is that wrong under this Court’s precedents, but it would
strip state legislatures of the ability to legislate effectively in light of evolving knowledge. This Court, in turn,
will become the Nation’s sole “ex officio medical board”
charged with refereeing the impact of medical advances
on the regulation of abortion. The better course is to do
what the district court would not: allow States to present
scientific evidence to satisfy their end of the undue-burden standard without handcuffing them to an erroneous
test that treats viability as the only relevant consideration.
III. Finally, the Court should condemn the district
court’s commentary that accused the Mississippi
Legislature of racism and sexism. District courts are
charged with making factfindings that are relied on by
appellate courts. District courts cannot proceed from the
assumption that abortion regulations are inherently
illegitimate. Nor should they disparage the good faith of
lawmakers who value unborn life.
ARGU ME N T
I. The Fifth Circuit Erroneously Failed to Apply
the Undue-Burden Test.
This Court recently reaffirmed that Casey’s undueburden test governs challenges to state abortion regulations. The test is universal: States are free to enact abortion regulations reasonably related to their legitimate interests as long as their laws do not pose an undue burden. June Med., 2020 WL 3492640, at *23. Yet the Fifth
Circuit below refused to apply the undue-burden test to
Mississippi’s 15-week law. The Fifth Circuit joined other
courts in holding that the undue-burden inquiry does not
apply when a law might “ban” some previability
5
abortions. Jackson Women’s, 945 F.3d at 273; see also,
e.g., Isaacson v. Horne, 716 F.3d 1213, 1222-25 (9th Cir.
2013); Bryant v. Woodall, 363 F. Supp. 3d 611, 627-28
(M.D.N.C. 2019), appeal docketed, No. 19-1685 (4th Cir.
June 26, 2019).
That reasoning is inconsistent with June Medical and
Casey. This Court has never sanctioned a “ban” test that
ignores all evidence other than the viability of the unborn
child. To be sure, Roe and Casey generally endorse the
State’s broad authority to regulate abortion post-viability. But it does not follow from that rule that a State can
impose no restrictions on abortion before viability. The
Court should not allow lower courts’ confusion to persist
any longer.
A. States may enact laws that impact the ability
to obtain a previability abortion.
The Fifth Circuit should have applied the undue-burden test. Under that test, an abortion regulation must be
upheld if it (1) is reasonably related to a legitimate state
interest, and (2) poses no substantial obstacle to abortion. June Med., 2020 WL 3492640, at *23; Casey, 505
U.S. at 878. That test applies regardless of the impact of
the regulation.
1. Regulations of previability abortion are
subject to the undue-burden test.
The Fifth Circuit concluded that, because Mississippi’s 15-week law was a “ban” on previability abortion,
“the undue-burden balancing test has no place in this
case.” Jackson Women’s, 945 F.3d at 273. The panel purported to ground its opinion in Roe and Casey, id. at 271,
273, but those cases did not create a separate test for
“bans” that ignores all evidence other than viability. Instead, the language cited describes the scope of the right
6
to elective abortion and permits States to regulate within
it.
After recognizing a right to elective abortion in Roe,
the Court chose to set the limit of that right at viability.
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 163-64 (1973). After viability,
there is no right to elective abortion. Id. Casey reiterated
the scope of that right when it reaffirmed “the central
holding of Roe,” that “a State may not prohibit any
woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate
her pregnancy before viability.” 505 U.S. at 879. But the
Court permitted States to place limitations on that right,
as long as those limitations do not amount to an undue
burden. Id. at 878.
The Fifth Circuit misunderstood this language from
Casey as automatically invalidating any law that might
“prohibit” a subset of women from obtaining a previability abortion—here, those seeking an abortion between
15- and 16-weeks’ gestation. Jackson Women’s, 945 F.3d
at 273. But that is not how Casey applied its own holding.
Casey subjected every law at issue to the undue-burden
test, even though some of the laws may have “banned” or
“prohibited” a subset of women from obtaining a previability abortion: women on the cusp of viability (24-hour
waiting period), women whose spouses might interfere
(spousal-notice provision), and minors without parental
consent or judicial bypass. Casey, 505 U.S. at 885-87, 895,
899-900. Most recently in June Medical, the plurality applied the undue-burden test despite concluding that
“thousands of Louisiana women” would have “no practical means of obtaining a safe, legal abortion.” 2020 WL
3492640, at *19 (plurality op.).
Thus, Roe and Casey, while generally defining the
right to elective abortion, do not forbid States from enacting laws that might prohibit some previability
7
abortions. No constitutional right is absolute, and abortion is no exception. Previability abortion—just like free
speech, see Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S. 155, 163-64
(2015)—may be regulated so long as the regulation
passes the applicable constitutional test.
Taking the Court’s “may not prohibit” language literally would require courts to enjoin any state law that
stands between a woman and a previability abortion,
whether it be a health-and-safety standard that would
shut down a filthy clinic or a prohibition on governmentfunded abortions. The Court has never endorsed this
view. Yet many courts have misread the Court’s precedent to automatically invalidate laws that might prevent
some women from obtaining previability abortions.
Isaacson, 716 F.3d at 1222-25; SisterSong Women of
Color Reprod. Justice Collective v. Kemp, 1:19-CV02973-SCJ, 2020 WL 3958227, at *10-*11 (N.D. Ga. July
13, 2020); Little Rock Family Planning Servs. v.
Rutledge, 397 F. Supp. 3d 1213, 1266-68 (E.D. Ark. 2019),
appeal docketed, No. 19-2690 (8th Cir. Aug. 9, 2019); Bryant, 363 F. Supp. 3d at 627-28. Given that the right to
elective abortion derives only from this Court’s precedent, this Court is the only body that can correct this error, and it should grant the petition to do so.
2. Applying the undue-burden test would
have made a difference in this case.
a. By refusing to apply the undue-burden test here,
the lower courts prevented Mississippi from adequately
defending its law. As June Medical reaffirmed, the first
step in the undue-burden test is the “threshold requirement” that the State have a “legitimate purpose and that
the law be reasonably related to that goal.” 2020 WL
3492640, at *25 (cleaned up).
8
The Mississippi Legislature made multiple findings
supporting its 15-week gestational limit including fetal
development, integrity of the medical profession, and
maternal health. Miss. Code § 41-41-191(2). Mississippi
also sought to present evidence to the district court of an
interest in preventing fetal pain, given the scientific evidence that a 15-week-old fetus has developed the brain
structures necessary to feel pain. Pet. App. 75a-100a.
These interests are legitimate, see Gonzales v. Carhart,
550 U.S. 124, 157-60 (2007); Roe, 410 U.S. at 163; and the
15-week law is reasonably related to them.
Yet the district court refused to let Mississippi defend its law with evidence of fetal pain. Order, Jackson
Women’s Health Org. v. Dobbs, No. 3:18-CV-00171CWR-FKB (S.D. Miss. Aug. 15, 2018) (excluding fetalpain testimony). The district court then went one step
further, opining that the Mississippi Legislature was
“gaslighting” and that its true purpose was malicious—
to control women and minorities. Jackson Women’s, 349
F. Supp. 3d at 540 n.22.
Mississippi was entitled to defend its law with evidence supporting its interests, especially when those interests are disputed. Such evidence is relevant to the undue-burden test’s “threshold requirement” of a legitimate purpose. June Med., 2020 WL 3492640, at *25. Yet
the district court and Fifth Circuit gave Mississippi no
opportunity to defend its interests.
b. The Fifth Circuit also improperly relieved the
plaintiffs of their burden to prove the second element of
the undue-burden test: the law places a “substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a
nonviable fetus.” Id. (quoting Casey, 505 U.S. at 877).
Currently, Mississippi has one abortion clinic, and it
performs abortions only up to 16-weeks’ gestation.
9
Jackson Women’s, 945 F.3d at 273. The record shows
that, in 2017, 90 women obtained abortions between 15
and 16 weeks. Id. at 273 n.31. The plaintiffs introduced
no evidence to explain why these women could not schedule their abortions one week earlier. There is, therefore,
no summary-judgment evidence that Mississippi’s law
would pose a substantial obstacle to any woman’s ability
to obtain a previability abortion, much less a large fraction or significant number of women. 3 See June Med.,
2020 WL 3492640, at *25 (noting Casey’s spousal-notice
requirement impacted a “significant number” of women).
Instead, the law still gives Mississippi women a reasonable opportunity—nearly four months—to make their
choice.
The lower courts’ failure to apply the undue-burden
test warrants reversal. The Court should either grant,
vacate, and remand in light of June Medical’s affirmation of the undue-burden test, or grant and reverse after
holding that the undue-burden test applies in these circumstances.
B. Casey’s viability framework does not preclude
consideration of other important state
interests.
Even if Mississippi’s law would prevent some previability abortions, the analysis does not stop there. The
Fifth Circuit erred in assuming that the viability of the
unborn child is the only state interest that can justify
limiting abortion rights. Jackson Women’s, 945 F.3d at
274 (holding that “the Supreme Court’s viability framework has already balanced the State’s asserted interests
And if there were a true obstacle to access for any actual
woman, the proper means of adjudication is an as-applied challenge,
not wholesale facial invalidation. Gonzales, 550 U.S. at 167.
3
10
and found them wanting”). But as described above, the
Court’s “viability framework” was just that—a framework. The Court did not purport to rule on all possible
interests that would justify a limitation on abortion. See
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc., 139 S.
Ct. 1780, 1792 (2019) (Thomas, J., concurring) (noting
that Casey did not address eugenic abortions, but only
five provisions of Pennsylvania law); Planned
Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc. v. Comm’r of Ind. State
Dep’t of Health, 917 F.3d 532, 536 (7th Cir. 2018) (Easterbrook, J., dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc)
(“Judicial opinions are not statutes; they resolve only the
situations presented for decision.”).
When setting the limit of the right to elective abortion at viability, Roe weighed only the bare interest in
unborn life—the belief that unborn life has value and
should not be aborted—against a complete prohibition
on elective abortions. 410 U.S. at 163-64. When reconsidering Roe, Casey again balanced only the States’ interest
in potential life against the woman’s interests in terminating her pregnancy. 505 U.S. at 870-71. Neither case
claimed to have considered all possible state interests
that might warrant limitations on abortion.
Thus, even if Mississippi’s law arguably prevented
some previability abortions, that is not the end of the
analysis. State interests other than the viability of the
unborn child are sufficiently important to justify limiting
the right to previability abortion, as some Justices have
previously indicated.
Fetal pain is one such compelling interest. Justice
Blackmun, the author of Roe, found it “obvious” that “the
State’s interest in the protection of an embryo . . . increases progressively and dramatically as the organism’s
capacity to feel pain, to experience pleasure, to survive,
11
and to react to its surroundings increases day by day.”
Webster v. Reprod. Health Servs., 492 U.S. 490, 552
(1989) (Blackmun, J., joined by Brennen and Marshall,
JJ., concurring in part) (cleaned up); see also id. at 569
(Stevens, J., concurring in part) (stating that the interest
in protecting a “developed fetus” from “physical pain or
mental anguish” is “valid”). Thus, multiple Justices that
joined Roe agree that fetal pain and development are important considerations in measuring the State’s interests. If so, then States can enact measures to prevent developed unborn children from suffering the pain of being
dismembered during an abortion.
The Court has recognized other state interests that
justify regulation of previability abortion: preventing the
coarsening of society to the humanity of newborns, Gonzales, 550 U.S. at 157; the integrity and ethics of the medical profession, id.; protection of minors, Casey, 505 U.S.
at 899-900; and maternal health, Roe, 410 U.S. at 154.
Justice Thomas has also identified a “compelling interest
in preventing abortion from becoming a tool of modernday eugenics,” and indicated that there could be “other
compelling interests in adopting . . . other abortion-related laws.” Box, 139 S. Ct. at 1783 & n.2 (Thomas, J.,
concurring).
Reading Roe and Casey to conclude, as the Fifth Circuit did, that no state interest other than viability can
justify preventing a previability abortion, makes that
right absolute. But Roe was clear that it is not: A woman
does not have a right to terminate her pregnancy “at
whatever time, in whatever way, and for whatever reason
she alone chooses.” 410 U.S. at 153-54; see also Doe v.
Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 189 (1973) (stating that “a pregnant
woman does not have an absolute constitutional right to
an abortion on her demand”).
12
Treating the right to previability abortion—a right
found only in the precedent of the Court, not the text of
the Constitution—as absolute would endow it with
greater protection than enumerated constitutional rights
that may be limited when the State’s interest is strong
enough. See, e.g., Reed, 576 U.S. at 163-64 (free speech);
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 326 (2003) (equal protection). And June Medical affirms that the substantialobstacle analysis is similar to the analysis used in other
types of claims that consider the State’s interest. See
2020 WL 3492640, at *24 (citing religious-freedom and
free-speech cases). Abortion should not be an exception
to the normal rules.
The Fifth Circuit’s assumption that there is no state
interest strong enough to justify a limitation on previability abortion was incorrect. The Court should grant the
petition, require the plaintiffs to prove an undue burden,
and allow Mississippi the full opportunity to defend its
law.
C. Abortion providers are attempting to avoid
scrutiny by claiming laws are “bans.”
If the Fifth Circuit’s judgment stands, and all laws
that might prohibit some previability abortions are unconstitutional, then abortion providers will claim that
abortion laws are effectively “bans” in order to cut off
debate, prevent the State from introducing evidence of
its interests, and avoid their obligation to prove an undue
burden.
This concern is not theoretical. The COVID-19 pandemic caused multiple States to temporarily postpone
elective medical procedures, including abortion, in order
to preserve personal protective equipment, ensure sufficient hospital capacity, and maintain social distancing.
See, e.g., In re Rutledge, 956 F.3d 1018, 1023 (8th Cir.
13
2020); Adams & Boyle, PC v. Slatery, 956 F.3d 913, 921
(6th Cir. 2020); In re Abbott, 954 F.3d 772, 787 (5th Cir.
2020). These temporary limits were challenged by abortion providers who cited Jackson Women’s for the proposition that the postponements were “bans” on previability abortion, and that evidence of the pandemic was irrelevant. 4
Abortion providers have also relied on this misunderstanding to obtain injunctions of anti-discrimination laws
that seek to prevent racist, sexist, and ableist abortions.
Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc. v. Comm’r of
Ind. State Dep’t of Health, 888 F.3d 300, 305-07 (7th Cir.
2018), cert. granted in part, judgment rev’d in part sub
nom. Box, 139 S. Ct. 1780; Preterm-Cleveland v. Himes,
294 F. Supp. 3d 746, 754 (S.D. Ohio 2018), en banc review
granted, 944 F.3d 630 (6th Cir. 2019). But the constitutionality of such laws is an open question. Box, 139 S. Ct.
at 1792 (Thomas, J., concurring).
The Court has never countenanced a constitutional
test for abortion that fails to account for the State’s interest. Indeed, Casey’s undue-burden standard was
adopted because the Court had not adequately considered the State’s interest in previous cases. 505 U.S. at
873. Abortion providers should not be permitted to escape their burden by claiming the law might “ban” an
Mem. of Law in Support of Plfs.’ Emergency Mot. for TRO &
Prelim. Injunctive Relief at 19-22, Robinson v. Marshall, No. 2:19cv-00365-MHT-JTA, (M.D. Ala. Mar. 30, 2020); Mem. of Law Supporting Ex Parte TRO or Prelim. Inj. at 24-26, Little Rock Family
Planning Servs. v. Rutledge, No. 4:19-CV-00449-KGB (E.D. Ark.
Apr. 13, 2020); Mot. for & Br. in Support of TRO and/or Prelim. Inj.
at 15-18, Preterm-Cleveland, Inc. v. Yost, No. 1:19-cv-00360 (S.D.
Ohio Mar. 30, 2020); Mot. for TRO and/or Prelim. Inj. at 17-20,
Planned Parenthood Ctr. for Choice v. Abbott, No. 1:20-cv-00323LY (W.D. Tex. Mar. 25, 2020).
4
14
abortion. The Fifth Circuit erred in refusing to apply the
undue-burden test.
II. Medical and Scientific Advances Require
Reconsideration of the Viability Framework.
When creating the right to abortion in Roe, the Court
explained that allowing States to prohibit abortions after
viability was “logical” and “biological.” 410 U.S. at 163.
But the understanding of biology did not stop in 1973. As
more is learned about fetal development and pain, and as
new “brutal” techniques for abortion emerge, what is
“logical” and “biological” changes as well. Thus, even if
the Court believes, as did the Fifth Circuit, that its holdings create a strict “viability line” that is dispositive here,
it is time to reevaluate that line, and States are entitled
to present evidence to support that argument.
The difficult questions of fetal development, pain, and
abortion techniques belong with the people’s elected officials, who can handle evolving science more nimbly, and
who are accountable to the electorate if they strike the
wrong balance. But if this Court has adopted a bright viability line, only this Court can weigh that new evidence
against “the woman’s liberty interest in defining her
‘own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe,
and of the mystery of human life.’” June Med., 2020 WL
3492640, at *23.
A. Changed circumstances require the Court to
reevaluate its viability precedent.
Much has changed since Roe. “[N]eonatal and medical science . . . now graphically portrays, as science was
unable to do [at the time of Roe], how a baby develops
sensitivity to external stimuli and to pain much earlier
than was then believed.” McCorvey v. Hill, 385 F.3d 846,
852 (5th Cir. 2004) (Jones, J., concurring) (footnote
15
omitted). In 1973, viability meant 28 weeks’ gestation. By
1992, the gestation line was 23 or 24 weeks. Casey, 505
U.S. at 860. Babies born at only 21 weeks have now survived. 5 Multiple Justices have observed that the “Roe
framework . . . is clearly on a collision course with itself,”
due in part to the moving viability line. City of Akron v.
Akron Ctr. for Reprod. Health, Inc., 462 U.S. 416, 458
(1983) (O’Connor, J., dissenting). Several years later, the
Court in Casey concluded that its precedents had “undervalue[d] the State’s interest in potential life” and gave
States greater ability to protect it. 505 U.S. at 873.
Circuit-court judges have also noted that changed
circumstances call for reevaluation of the viability framework. The Eighth Circuit has criticized that framework
for limiting States’ ability to consider evidence of developments in obstetrics, viability, and maternal health.
MKB Mgmt. Corp. v. Stenehjem, 795 F.3d 768, 773-75
(8th Cir. 2015). In the Fifth Circuit, Judge Jones has
noted that “if courts were to delve into the facts underlying Roe’s balancing scheme with present-day
knowledge, they might conclude that the woman’s
‘choice’ is far more risky and less beneficial, and the
child’s sentience far more advanced, than the Roe Court
knew.” McCorvey, 385 F.3d at 852 (Jones, J., concurring); see also Planned Parenthood of Ind. & Ky., Inc.,
888 F.3d at 311-14 (Manion J., dissenting in part) (calling
for a reevaluation of Roe and Casey).
Fox Television, Extreme Preemie, ‘About the Size of a Hand,’
Goes Home in Georgia (July 2020), https://fox6now.com/2020/
07/01/extreme-preemie-comes-home-for-first-time/; A. Pawlowski,
'Miracle baby': Born at 21 Weeks, She May Be the Most Premature
Surviving Infant (Nov. 2017), https://www.today.com/health/born21-weeks-she-may-be-most-premature-surviving-baby-t118610.
5
16
B. New medical and scientific developments
undermine the viability framework.
1. States’ interests in protecting unborn life exist
“from the inception of the pregnancy.” Gonzales, 550
U.S. at 158. Those interests, which exist prior to viability,
have been strengthened by new evidence of the fetus’s
development and her capacity to feel pain. 6 Dr. Condic’s
unrebutted declaration traces much of this developing
evidence. Pet. App. 75a-100a. And recently, two researchers who have “very different views on the morality
of abortion” reviewed the relevant literature and concluded that “neuroscience cannot definitively rule out fetal pain before 24 weeks.” Stuart W.G. Derbyshire &
John C. Bockmann, Reconsidering Fetal Pain, 46 J. of
Med. Ethics, no. 1 (2019). 7
When enacting the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of
2003, Congress cited the “medical fact” that “unborn infants at this stage can feel pain when subjected to painful
stimuli and that their perception of this pain is even more
intense than that of newborn infants and older children
when subjected to the same stimuli.” Pub. L. No. 108105, § 2(14)(M), 117 Stat. 1201 (2003) (noting that “during a partial-birth abortion procedure, the child will fully
experience the pain associated with piercing his or her
skull and sucking out his or her brain”).
State legislatures have increasingly sought to give effect to this new evidence by enacting previability limitations on abortion. See, e.g., Ark. Code § 20-16-2002 (findings on fetal development and fetal pain); Idaho Code
§ 18-503 (findings on fetal pain); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28Amici States agree with Mississippi’s discussion of the impact
of abortion on maternal health but focus their analysis here on the
impact of abortion on the unborn child.
7
Available at https://jme.bmj.com/content/46/1/3.
6
17
3,104 (findings on fetal pain). In total, at least twenty-two
States have determined that abortion should be prohibited at some point prior to the district court’s determination of viability in this case. 8 Cf. Atkins v. Virginia, 536
U.S. 304, 315-16 (2002) (finding a “national consensus” of
only eighteen States sufficient to prohibit the execution
of individuals with intellectual disabilities). The evidence
is mounting, and the States are noticing. The viability
framework should be reconsidered.
2. Relevant advances have not been limited to fetal
pain and development. Abortion providers have also discovered new, brutal ways to abort unborn children since
Roe. The dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure currently used after 15-weeks’ gestation was not used for
second trimester abortions at the time of Roe. City of Akron, 462 U.S. at 436 & n.23.; see also Stenberg v. Carhart,
530 U.S. 914, 924 (2000). A D&E abortion involves ripping a fetus apart with forceps and removing it piece-bypiece from the womb, Gonzales, 550 U.S. at 135-36, a procedure some on the Court have characterized as “brutal”
and “gruesome,” id. at 181-82 (Ginsburg, J. dissenting).
The Court has never contemplated whether the State
can limit abortions involving the dismemberment of a living, pain-capable unborn child. The closest the Court has
come was in upholding the partial-birth abortion ban in
Ala. Code § 26-23B-5(a); Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2159(B); Ark.
Code § 20-16-1405(a)(1); Ga. Code § 16-12-141(b); Idaho Code § 18505; Ind. Code § 16-34-2-1(a)(3); Iowa Code § 146B.2(2)(a); Kan.
Stat. §§ 65-6723(f) & 6724(a); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 311.782(1); La. Stat.
§ 40:1061.1(E); Miss. Code § 41-41-137; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.058(1);
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-3,106; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-45.1(a); N.D. Cent.
Code § 14-02.1-05.3(3); Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.201(A); Okla. Stat.
tit. 63, § 1-745.5(A); S.C. Code § 44-41-450(A); S.D. Codified Laws
§ 34-23A-70; Tex. Health & Safety Code § 171.044; Utah Code § 767-302.5; W. Va. Code §§ 16-2M-2 & 4(a).
8
18
Gonzales, and the Court had little difficulty identifying
numerous state interests justifying prohibition of that
brutal and inhumane procedure. Id. at 156-60; see also
Casey, 505 U.S. at 882 (noting that “most women considering an abortion would deem the impact on the fetus relevant, if not dispositive, to the decision”). But under the
circuit courts’ interpretation of this Court’s precedent,
States cannot act on these new developments.
C. If the viability line is absolute, only this Court
can move it.
State legislatures are best positioned to evaluate and
weigh this new evidence, as they can hold hearings each
session and react quickly to scientific developments. But
as it stands now, they must wait years for a legal issue
surrounding abortion to sufficiently “percolat[e]” and
make its way to this Court. Box, 139 S. Ct. at 1784
(Thomas, J., concurring). And even then, if lower courts
follow the logic of the Fifth Circuit, States will be unable
to submit evidence of these advances in support of their
interests. Not only will this Court be required to act as
“the country’s ex officio medical board,” Gonzales, 550
U.S. at 164 (quoting Webster, 492 U.S. at 518-19 (plurality op.)), it will be forced to do so on records devoid of the
relevant evidence.
The practical results of the Court’s viability jurisprudence have been one-sided. Abortion providers routinely
sue to try and take advantage of new medical technology,
such as telemedicine and medication abortion, to expand
the right to abortion. See, e.g., Compl. at 20-25 (¶¶ 90121), Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. Hill, No. 1:18CV-1904 (S.D. Ind. June 21, 2018) (challenging “Laws
That Deny Abortion Patients the Benefits of Scientific
Progress”) (emphasis omitted); Compl. at 18-23 (¶¶ 83110), Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. Paxton, No.
19
1:18-CV-00500 (W.D. Tex. June 14, 2018) (same). But
States cannot do the same to limit previability abortion
without this Court’s approval.
Weighing the evidence of fetal development, fetal
pain, women’s health, society’s values, and women’s liberty may require the members of the Court to “act as
legislators, not judges,” June Med., 2020 WL 3492640, at
*23, but it is a task the Court has removed from the
States and taken for itself. The States’ only recourse is
to seek relief from the Court.
III. The Court Should Condemn the District Court’s
Rhetoric.
After declaring evidence of Mississippi’s interests in
its 15-week law to be irrelevant, the district court performed its own non-record research and opined that the
law reflected Mississippi’s general oppression of women,
racial minorities, and homosexuals. Jackson Women’s,
349 F. Supp. 3d at 540 n.22, 543 n.40. The court asserted
that Mississippi had a “history of disregarding the constitutional rights of its citizens” and concluded that Mississippi’s interest in women’s health was “pure gaslighting.” Id. The court concluded that the law represented
the “old Mississippi” that was “bent on controlling
women and minorities.” Id. at 540 n.22.
As did Judge Ho in concurrence, Jackson Women’s,
945 F.3d at 282-86 (Ho, J. concurring in the judgment),
this Court should condemn the district court’s rhetoric.
A district court is required to presume good faith, not the
opposite. Abbott, 138 S. Ct. at 2324. The district court
turned that rule on its head and reached into Mississippi’s past to ascribe aspersions on today’s legislators
for doing their jobs.
The district court’s behavior is part of a broader and
troubling trend. In the last year, the Fifth Circuit has
20
had to admonish (1) a Texas district court for “adopt[ing]
all 30 of [plaintiff abortion clinics’] proposed findings
without citing or discussing a single declaration submitted by [the State],” In re Abbott, 956 F.3d 696, 718-19
(5th Cir. 2020), and (2) a Louisiana district court for its
conclusion that it was “‘untenable’ to make [abortion]
Plaintiffs establish standing because doing so would
make it harder for them to succeed on the merits,” In re
Gee, 941 F.3d 153, 159 (5th Cir. 2019) (per curiam). Other
district courts around the country have suggested that
reasonable, commonsense abortion regulations are the
products of invidious paternalism. See, e.g., Bernard v.
Individual Members of Ind. Med. Licensing Bd., 392 F.
Supp. 3d 935, 958-59 (S.D. Ind. 2019) (live-dismemberment ban); Tex. Med. Providers Performing Abortion
Servs. v. Lakey, No. A-11-CA-486-SS, 2012 WL 373132,
at *2 (W.D. Tex. Feb. 6, 2012) (informed-consent provision).
This is far from harmless error; June Medical
treated the district court’s factfinding as all but dispositive. 2020 WL 3492640, at *6-*7 (plurality op.). If appellate courts are to rely on district-court findings, district
courts cannot be allowed to treat abortion regulations as
per se the product of intolerable animus. Whatever else
it does, the Court should make clear that the district
court’s bias will not be tolerated.
21
C O NC LU SIO N
The petition for a writ of certiorari should be granted.
Respectfully submitted.
KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas
JEFFREY C. MATEER
First Assistant Attorney
General
RYAN L. BANGERT
Deputy First Assistant
Attorney General
KYLE D. HAWKINS
Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
HEATHER GEBELIN HACKER
BETH KLUSMANN
Assistant Solicitors General
OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL
P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059)
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
Kyle.Hawkins@oag.texas.gov
(512) 936-1700
JULY 2020
Additional counsel on next page
22
Counsel for Additional Amici States:
STEVE MARSHALL
Attorney General
of Alabama
JEFF LANDRY
Attorney General
of Louisiana
KEVIN G. CLARKSON
Attorney General
of Alaska
ERIC SCHMITT
Attorney General
of Missouri
MARK BRNOVICH
Attorney General
of Arizona
DOUGLAS J. PETERSON
Attorney General
of Nebraska
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General
of Arkansas
DAVE YOST
Attorney General
of Ohio
CHRISTOPHER M. CARR
Attorney General
of Georgia
MIKE HUNTER
Attorney General
of Oklahoma
LAWRENCE G. WASDEN
Attorney General
of Idaho
ALAN WILSON
Attorney General
of South Carolina
CURTIS T. HILL, JR.
Attorney General
of Indiana
HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General
of Tennessee
DEREK SCHMIDT
Attorney General
of Kansas
PATRICK MORRISEY
Attorney General
of West Virginia
DANIEL CAMERON
Attorney General
of Kentucky
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.