Amicus Curiae Brief — J. M. v. V. C.
Supreme Court brief1993
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y aupreme Court, U.S,
i
92-19 84 FILED
No. 92- JUN 1 1993
Supreme Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM, 1992
—_—_
J.M., INDIVIDUALLY,
Petitioner,
- against -
V.C., wom.
Respondent.
BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR CERTIORARI TO
SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY
AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICI CURIAE BRIEF
CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA; ABORTION'S AFTERMATH; AMERICAN RIGHTS
COALITION, INC.; CATHOLIC WOMEN'S LEAGUE OF NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED, FEMCARE,
FEMINISTS FOR LIFE OF AMERICA; INSTITUTE FOR PREGNANCY LOSS, INTERNATIONAL BLACK
WOMEN'S NETWORK; NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN; NATIONAL OFFICE OF
POST-ABORTION RECONCILIATION AND HEALING; OPEN ARMS; PREGNANCY COUNSELLING
SERVICES INCORPORATED; PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S NETWORK; VICTIMS OF ABORTION NEW
ZEALAND INCORPORATED; VICTIM'S OF CHOICE: WOMEN AFFIRMING LIFE, WOMEN EXPLOITED
BY ABORTION; WOMEN FOR FAITH AND FAMILY; WOMEN FOR LIFE; WOMEN FOR WOMEN,
ACCION FAMILIAR; ALLIANCE FOR LIFE; AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE; AMERI-
CAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION, INC.; APOSTOLATUS UNITE; CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION Y
DOCENCIA; CHRISTIAN ADVOCATES SERVING EVANGELISM; COALITIONS FOR AMERICA;
DELAWARE LAWYERS FOR LIFE; DELAWARE RIGHT TO LIFE; FAMILY AND YOUTH CONCERN:
FAMILY OF THE AMERICAS; FAMILY PROTECTION LOBBY; FREE SPEECH ADVOCATES,
FACULTAD DE MEDICINA; HUMAN LIFE FOUNDATION OF NEW ZEALAND; HUMAN LIFE
INTERNATIONAL; INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS FAMILIARES; KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS;
MARCH FOR LIFE; MARCH FOR LIFE EDUCATION AND DEFENSE FUND; NATIONAL INSTITUTE
OF FAMILY AND LIFE ADVOCATES; NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE
UNBORN CHILD INCORPORATED; PRO-LIFE ACTION LEAGUE, RIGHT TO LIFE LEAGUE OF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA; ROCKLAND COUNTY CATHOLIC COALITION; SCOTTISH
ASSOCIATION FOR NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING; SERVICE AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF
ASIA ON FAMILY AND CULTURE; SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN,
SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL IN NEW ZEALAND; AND WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR THE
FAMILY AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITION
Calum B. Anderson, Esq. COONEY, SCULLY AND DOWLING
Counsel of Record Hartford Square North
(203) 527-1141 Ten Columbus Boulevard
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Attorneys for Amici Curiae
BEST AVAILABLE COPY
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO Fi | RIAE BRIEF
The amicus curiae, Concerned Women for America:
Abortion’s Aftermath; American Rights Coalition, Inc.; Catholic
Women’s League of New Zealand Incorporated; FemCARE:
Feminists for Life of America; Institute for Pregnancy Lost;
International Black Women’s Network; National Council of Catholic
Women; National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and
Healing; Open ARMS; Pregnancy Counselling Services
Incorporated; Professional Women’s Network; Victims of Abortion
New Zealand Incorporated; Victims of Choice; Women Affirming
Life; Women Exploited by Abortion; Women for Faith and Family;
Women for Life; Women for Women; Accion Familiar: Alliance for
Life; American Center for Law and Justice; American Family
Association, Inc.; Apostolatus Unite; Centro de Investigacion Y
Docencia; Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism; Coalitions for
America; Delaware Lawyers for Life; Delaware Right to Life; Family
and Youth Concern; Family of the Americas; Family Protection
Lobby; Free Speech Advocates; Facultad de Medicina; Human Life
Foundation of New Zealand; Human Life International: Instituto De
Ciencias Familiares; Knights of the Southern Cross; March for Life;
March for Life Education and Defense Fund; National Institute of
Family and Life Advocates; New Zealand Society for the Protection
of the Unborn Child Incorporated; Pro-Life Action League; Right to
Life League of Southern California; Rockland County Catholic
Coalition; Scottish Assocation for Natural Family Planning; Service
and Research Foundation of Asia on Family and Culture; Society
for the Protection of Unborn Children; Society of St. Vincent de
Paul in New Zealand; and World Organization for the Family hereby
move the court for leave to file an amici curiae brief in support of
the petitioner, J.M. Counsel for petitioner consents to the filing of
the brief, but Amici did not obtain consent of the respondent,
V.C.’s attorney.
———————E
TA N T
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BOWE 5 cw e i
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ......................... iv
| WOUENESTS OF AMMCE oo inc cc cacccccey 1
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ...................... 24
EE Vee ees ee Ue vs oh ee eau a dsc. tl 26
. THE CENTRAL QUESTION PRESENTED IN THIS
CASE HAS NEVER BEEN RESOLVED BY THIS
COURT, AND IS THEREFORE BEFORE THIS COURT
ASA l REMEN
OF STARE DECISIS FOR OVERRULING ROE V.
WADE ARE COMPLETELY SATISFIED BY THE
FACTS OF LD
GRANT THE WRIT TO DECIDE THE CHILD'S
PEE Eee 26
A. THE QUESTION OF WHEN THE LIFE OF A CHILD BEGINS
WAS NOT DECIDED BY ROE AND IT IS THEREFORE THE
DUTY OF THIS COURT TO RESOLVE THE QUESTION. IT
WAS THE PROMISE OF ROE THAT A SUBSEQUENT
COURT WOULD DECIDE THIS ISSUE WHEN "MAN’S
KNOWLEDGE" WAS SUFFICIENT. ............. 27
B. EVEN IF PRINCIPLES OF STARE DECISIS WERE
APPLICABLE TO THIS CASE, BECAUSE OF NEW FACTS
AND NEW APPRECIATION OF OLD ONES, STARE DECIS/S
DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE COURT FINDING THAT THE
CHILD HAS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS PRIOR TO
serge PRET Te ne 29
1. New Facts and New Appreciation of Old Ones... 30
2. Whether Aoe is in Conflict with Prior
Precedent at Odds with Personal Liberties
Depends Upon Whether the Child is a Human
re ere er 33
2. Given the Fact that the Child is a Human
Being, the Principles of Reliance (and
Workability) Has no Application. ......... 38
ee wR 6 rrr rer ee 41
T Ti
Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416
EE eee 26
Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962) .............. 28, 37
Berman v. Allan, 404 A.2d 8 (1979) ................ 35
Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497 (1954) .............. 39
Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, 347 U.S., 483 (1954) .. 39-41
Burnet v. Coronado Oil and Gas Co., 285 U.S. 393 ... 31, 32
Califano v. Goldfarb, 430 U.S. 199 (1977) ............ 37
Colegrove v. Barrett, 330 U.S. 804 (1946) ............ 32
Colgrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 547 (1946) ............. 32
Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 (1976) ............. 37-38
Gleitman v. Cosgrove, 227 A.2d 689 (1967) .......... 34
Hummel v. Reiss, 608 A.2d 1341 (1992) ............. 34
Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961) ............. 32, a0
New Jersey v. Novak, 121 A.2d 5 21 (1956) .......... 34
New Jersey v. Sicilano, 117 A.2d 490 (1956) ......... 34
Penna.-Reading, S.S. Lines v. Bd. of Pub. Utility Commrs., 74 A.2d
ee RES bn ccc t ba ev cenccscas 28
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505
OE Fe Re ye > passim
Vv
Procanik v. Cillo, 478 A.2d 755 (1984) .............. 35
Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital v. Anderson, 201
Pie ee ROUND 4b ss ey wees a Oe een hee es 33, 34
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) .............. 37
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) .............. passim
Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969) ........... 37
Smith v. Brennan, 157 A.2d 497 (1960) .......... 33, 34
Thornburgh v. A.C.0.G., 476 U.S. 747 (1985) ......... 26
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S.
ih bias EE rr le ee eee 26
Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949) ............... 32
STATUTES:
sae case crate ee coats lip Ree ER OE TE ER BPEL ED ee Po ld neat 34
Pe OND 4 x'a's a ona A eee eee eee 36
sgh ins Te hak Maen CE COR OO Pee 37
OTHER LEGAL AUTHORITY:
Douglas, William O., Stare Decisis, 49 Colum. L. Rev. 735-743,
POT ORNTOD 006 os a 5654 Ee ee ee 30
THER R
49A Landmark Briefs at490 .................... 39-40
a ae
1
In The
Supreme Court Of The United States
OCTOBER TERM, 1992
No. 92-
| J.M., individually
Petitioner
} v.
V.C., et al.,
Respondents
INTERESTS OF AMICI
CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA ["“CWA"].
CWA is the largest, nonpartisan, politically active women’s
organization in the United States, representing approximately
600,000 persons, 80% of whom are women. CWA, which was
founded in 1979, maintains offices in Washington, D.C.
CWA has more than 600 chapters located in all 50 states.
It is an organization that is family oriented and is concerned with
preserving an environment in the United States which is conducive
to building strong families and raising healthy children. To achieve
that end, CWA works to preserve, protect and promote the
sanctity of human life among other family issues. CWA women
are active on the local and national levels in building strong families
and raising healthy children.
CWA believes abortion denigrates women in general and
demeans the legitimate and essential role of women as mothers;
it contributes to the overall denigration of the dignity of life and
has a negative impact upon the human race generally and its
self-worth in particular.
ABORTION’S AFTERMATH ["AA"].
AA was founded in 1989 to provide networking support for
post-abortion women in New Jersey. This Edison-based
organization has ties with over 50 post-abortion support
organizations in New Jersey, which in turn have contact with
about 5,000 women per year.
ee SS esses - =
2
AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE
The American Center for Law and Justice is a national
public interest law firm, chartered to enter the legal arena on
issues of a broad public interest. The American Center has
members in all fifty States. Attorneys from every State of the
Union have affiliated with the American Center, to assit in the
restoration of pro-liberty, pro-life and pro-family values.
On behalf of its members, the American Center calls for an
end to the systematic exploitation and victimization of women by
the abortion industry, and an end to the holocaust of the
destruction of our progeny.
AMERICAN RIGHTS COALITION, INC. ["ARC”"].
ARC was incorporated in Tennessee in 1987. ARC assists
women with the physical and emotional problems resulting from
abortion by referring women to medical, emotional and legal
providers for assistance, including bringing malpractice claims
against those who injure them through abortions.
ARC receives between five and 100 telephone calls per
day. It has compiled data on deaths from legal abortions as
reported in newspapers and as uncovered in lawsuits, indicating
the extent to which the Federal Center for Disease Control
significantly understates the number of deaths attributable to
abortions.
ARC’s main office is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE OF NEW ZEALAND
INCORPORATED ["CWLNZ"}.
First established in 1931, CWLNZ became a national
corporation in New Zealand in 1949. CWLNZ is based in each of
the six dioceses of New Zealand. At this time, its central office is
in Hamilton.
CWLNZ’s objects are to unite Catholic women in New
Zealand in Christian fellowship in order to enhance the growth of
their spiritual, intellectual, family and social life, and to foster
mission and charitable works and social action, and, in particular,
to provide a means by which the voice of Catholic women in New
Zealand may be heard in national and international affairs. CWLNZ
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participates in the pastoral life of the church and maintains liaison
with parish, diocesan and national organizations. CWLNZ
maintains affiliation and cooperation with the World Union of
Catholic Women’s Organizations. It maintains affiliations with
other organizations where and in whatever manner the National
Conference agrees is necessary or desirable to further the objects
and policy of the CWLNZ. Finally, CWLNZ encourages
Participation by its members in active roles in ecumenical and
community life.
CWLNZ conducts monthly gatherings of Catholic women,
performs community welfare action, church activities and mission
work for the South Pacific, among other things. It is actively
opposed to abortion and supports the protection and sanctity of
human life from conception until natural death.
CWLNZ has about 5,000 members from throughout New
Zealand.
CHRISTIAN ADVOCATES SERVING EVANGELISM
Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism is a legal defense
organization dedicated to protecting, preserving and defending the
right to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in public places.
Amicus is particularly concerned by a disturbing tendency
to undermine both cherished First Amendment freedoms and the
fundamental right to life in the name of a judge-created "right" to
abortion.
COALITIONS FOR AMERICA
COA was incorpoated in 1977 and is headquarted in
Washington, D.C.
COA is a grass-roots organizing and lobbying organization
that coordinattes activities amongst about 100 organizations
nationwide in areas related to social issues, defense and foreign
policy, legal and judicial matters, political reform and economic
issues. COA takes a pro-life position on the abortion issue.
COA’s activities include conducting coalition meetings
wherein activities of the many orgnizations with which COA works
are coordinated and acitivities, incluidng lobbying efforts, are
undertaken on their behalf. COA is not a membership organization
and has no members per se.
FEMCARE.
FemCare was founded in 1985 to provide post-abortion
support to women in the greater New York metropolitan area.
FemCare is headquartered in the Bronx, New York.
In addition to counseling individual women, FemCare
provides referrals to other counselors, psychologists and spiritual
directors. FemCare also assists in arranging the training of
professional post-abortion counselors and psychotherapists and
offers resource materials in post-abortion recovery for reference
and distribution.
As a result of its work, FemCare has insight into the
psychological, physical, social and emotional harm that abortion
causes women.
FEMINISTS FOR LiFE OF AMERICA ["FFLA"].
FFLA is a Wisconsin corporation which was formed in 1973
and which actively seeks to continue to promote and expand over
a century of effort by feminists toward achieving the goal of a
society in which women are empowered to make life-affirming
decisions for themselves and their children.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, FFLA has a total
membership of approximately 5,000 nationwide with 47 affiliated
chapters throughout the continental United States.
FFLA actively opposes societal pressures, direct and
indirect, which would compel, coerce or create pressure upon a
woman to abort her child. FFLA has provided the service of
gathering and disseminating information concerning abortion that
would otherwise not be available to the general public. FFLA,
therefore, represents a separate, distinct and unique viewpoint not
otherwise represented by any other organization either pro-life or
pro-abortion, and in such capacity, is specially situated to
present information that would otherwise not be available on the
abortion issue.
FFLA has concluded that abortion is actually exploitive of
women for many reasons. It is an institution that was created to
extend a "right" to a mother to kill her own child because it is
easier for a male-dominated society to fabricate such a right than
it is to address and correct the underlying problems that perpetuate
the exploitive use of women in a society which fails to extend to
5
women the respect, dignity and commitment that they deserve.
The presumption that the decision to take the life of her own child
belongs only to a mother is a furtherance of the isolation, stigma
and blame that is placed upon women in pregnancies out of
wedlock. It perpetuates and worsens the biased view that the
pregnancy is "her problem", and not that of the father. It is a
grave insult and indignity to women to suggest that a woman’s
place in the professional world and the workplace is conditioned
upon her willingness and ability to kill her own child.
The perspective of FFLA is unique in the context both of
abortion and of women’s rights.
FREE SPEECH ADVOCATES
Free Speech Advocates is a legal defense project that exists
to secure the First Amendment rights to engage in religous
witness, peaceful sidewalk counseing, and protest of or
conscientious objection to the destructionof unborn human life. Fee
Speech Advocates endeavors to assure a proper and competent
defense, due process, and all constitutional rights to those who
take a stand against abortion.
Free Speech Advocates believes that judicial restraint and
fidelity to the Constitution are essential to the presevation of
genuine constitutional rgihts. When activist courts announce novel
“fundamental rights" in a unprincipled manner, established
constitution rights suffer. This is so far a variety reasons: first,
judicially created rights dilute the significance of those rights the
prople have chosen to embody in the Constitution; second,
judicially created righs may actually conflict with or limit existing
rights; third, the illegitimate judicial creation of rights produces an
atmosphere of reactive hostility to claims of constitutional rights,
resulting in an unwillingness of courts to afford proper protection
for genuine constitutional rights.
Thus, judicial invention of a "fundamental right to abortion"
has led to the dilution of free speech and othe rrights, has directly
impaired the right to life and the right of states to enact criminal
and medical regulations, and has triggered an understandable
backlash that threaens to impair judicial solicitude for legitimate
constitutional claims.
Abortion is not a thread in the fabric of liberty or privacy
rights. Rather, abortion is a malignant tumor on the body politic.
6
Free Speech Advocates strongly urges the Court to remove this
cancerous growth before it further consumes the flesh and fiber of
this nation.
INSTITUTE FOR PREGNANCY LOSS ["IFPL"}.
IFPL was founded in 1990 as an independent non-profit
corporation. It is an education, research and treatment center
dedicated to the study of the impact of human pregnancy loss
(miscarriage, stillbirth, induced abortion and adoption). IFPL is
particularly interested in the examination and remediation of
traumatic abortion and adoption experiences, both of which are
volitional in nature.
IFPL has been active in promoting public policies that are
based on objective, relevant and current information regarding
informed consent, adolescent crisis pregnancies, parental and
spousal consultation and abortion and adoption decision-making
and outcomes. IFPL provides information to the public and health
care professionals on the complex nature of stressful pregnancy
loss in general, and the psychological health risks of abortion and
adoption in particular. IFPL conducts workshops and offers
numerous publications, primarily in the area of the psychological
effects of abortion. IFPL also provides intensive treatment for
women and men traumatized by pregnancy loss, particularly in the
area of impacted grief from either an abortion and/or an adoption
experience.
IFPL is currently conducting a major international research
project on the comparative effects of pregnancy losses in different
cultures.
INTERNATIONAL BLACK WOMEN’S NETWORK [“IBWN"].
IBWN was founded in 1990 and has a membership of
approximately 1,000 in the United States.
IBWN is a Christ-centered organization founded to address
the needs of black women, especially in parenting and job
training. The network is specifically interested in strengthening the
family life of the black family and, in this context, IBWN has a
special interest in the issue of abortion and its negative impact
upon the black family in America today.
Le TT
7
LEGAL ACTION FOR WOMEN ["“LAW"}.
LAW was incorporated in Florida in 1988 to assist women
who have been physically injured by abortion in making medical
malpractice claims against clinics and doctors because of such
injuries.
LAW refers women for legal assistance and assembles a
data base of the country’s most notorious abortionists. LAW
operates in all 50 states. It operates two telephone toll-free
hotlines for women physically injured by abortion and receives 20
to 25 phone calls per day.
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN ["NCCW"}.
NCCW is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was
established in 1920 and federates 8,000 Catholic women’s
organizations in the United States, which includes national
organizations such as Catholic Daughters of the Americas
(150,000 members), Daughter of Isabella (100,000 members) and
Ladies of Charity (35,000 members). In addition, there are 123
diocesan councils who are members of NCCW as well as 6,690
parish organizations.
in total, NCCW represents between 800,000 and
1,000,000 women nationwide.
NCCW’s primary function is to act through affiliated
organizations to educate and empower Catholic women in the
areas of spirituality, leadership and service. NCCW programs
address issues of concern in areas related to church, family,
community and legislation. Questions surrounding abortion and
the taking of the life of a child without justification, are issues with
which NCCW has dealt for many years. NCCW is familiar with
facts and information related to abortion. NCCW has acted as
advocate on behalf of women and children in state and national
legislatures and provides support to women in various
circumstances in their lives.
NATIONAL OFFICE OF POST-ABORTION RECONCILIATION AND
HEALING ["NOPARH").
NOPARH is a Wisconsin corporation, headquartered in
Milwaukee, and was organized in 1990. The purpose of NOPARH
|
oni
is to organize, educate and execute the international conference,
"Healing Visions", which it co-sponsors with Marquette
University. NOPARH also consults on the formation of
church-based post-abortion healing ministries, including "Project
Rachel" which is a post-abortion reconciliation service within the
Catholic Church.
NOPARH operates a national post-abortion referral line and
publishes an international post-abortion support services directory
and provides research and resources on matters of post-abortion |
aftermath and healing. NOPARH provides networking and acts as
a clearing house for clergy and therapists. NOPARH does not have
a membership per se, but does have more than 200 regular
financial
contributors. Supporters of the group are from across the United
States and from all walks and denominations.
OPEN ARMS ["OA"}.
OA is an international Christian ministry that was
incorporated in the State of Washington in 1986. Its national
office is located in Columbia, Missouri and OA has chapters
throughout the United States as well as in other countries.
OA is dedicated to bringing hope and healing to anyone
suffering from abortion’s emotional and spiritual aftermath. OA is
primarily made up of people who have personally experienced the
tragedy of abortion and who have felt its devastating after-effects.
OA representatives carry out their ministry in several ways.
They provide one-on-one confidential counseling through telephone
hotlines and through contacts made while speaking or working
with other pro-life sources. They sponsor monthly support groups
during which participants may share their own personal abortion
experiences in a non-threatening atmosphere. OA representatives
also conduct a Bible study program specifically geared toward
aiding those suffering from an abortion to achieve forgiveness and
healing. OA has trained hundreds of individuals for post-abortion
counseling and has done substantial research on the various harms
caused women by abortion. Finally, OA’s representatives engage
in public speaking to share the message of hope to those hurting
from abortion as well as to educate the church and the public
concerning the negative effects of abortion on individuals and
society.
|
9
PREGNANCY COUNSELLING SERVICES INCORPORATED ["PCSI"].
PCSI is a charitable trust incorporated under the laws of
New Zealand. Its principal office is located in Auckland, New
Zealand and it has 24 branches throughout the country.
PCSI is involved in counseling women distressed by
pregnancy and those suffering from post-abortion stress.
Post-abortion stress stems from the guilt and grief associated with
the knowledge that the woman has killed a child. PCS! reports
that clients frequently report they were deceived at the time of the
abortion into thinking that they were not dealing with another
human life.
PCSI counsels some 5,000 women annually and of this
number, approximately 85% are initially seeking abortions and
15% are suffering from post-abortion stress.
PCSI counsels women that abortion involves the taking of
a human life with the result that approximately two-thirds of those
initially seeking abortion decide to continue their pregnancies.
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK ["“PWN"}.
PWN represents women from a variety of professional and
business fields who recognize the sanctity of all human life. PWN
members are lawyers, accountants, consultants, teachers, realtors,
professors and systems analysts. It has a membership of between
4,000 and 4,500 which is active in pro-life activities.
PWN is considered to be the voice of pro-life professional
women and it conducts talks, primarily before college level
assemblies, and also on television. PWN conducts a memorial
service for those women who have died as the result of abortion.
VICTIMS OF ABORTION NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED
["VOA"}.
VOA was founded in 1989 and incorporated in New
Zealand in 1991.
VOA is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand and has
nine branches each of which are staffed by a coordinator and
counselors.
VOA is a post-abortion counseling organization for victims
of abortion, including women, men, and children of women who
10
have had abortions. VOA’s principal activities are counselling as
well as providing information and submissions to Parliament and
other groups. Those persons served by VOA have all suffered
from the trauma of abortion.
VICTIMS OF CHOICE ["VOC"].
VOC was incorporated about 10 years ago in California. Its
offices remain in Vacaville, California.
VOC seeks to provide education, information and counseling
to women, primarily those suffering from post-abortion syndrome.
VOC’s Executive Director travels throughout the United States to
train counselors who then counsel women and educate the public
on issues arising out of post-abortion syndrome. VOC publishes
a manual and produces articles and pamphlets for a readership of
between 2 and 3,000. VOC’s public education programs include
workshops, conferences and seminars conducted throughout the
world.
VOC also provides speakers who speak on the subjects of
chastity, crisis pregnancy, fetal development, types of abortions,
post-abortion syndrome and abortion recovery. VOC specializes in
producing post-abortion materials and the training of counselors to
assist women who have been harmed by abortion and VOC
counsels those suffering the loss of an aborted family member.
VOC is also aware of the harm caused to others beside the mother
and her aborted child, especially siblings of aborted babies.
VOC provides services to approximately 20 new clients per
month in each of its over 100 centers. Currently, VOC is
expanding at the rate of approximately two new centers per
month.
WOMEN AFFIRMING LIFE ["WAL"].
WAL was founded in 1990 and has its principal office in
Boston, Massachusetts. Its membership of between 700 and
1,000 is drawn from 42 states.
WAL’s purpose is to voice the commitment of Catholic
women in support of women and the dignity of life and
motherhood. WAL’s purpose is to serve as a national
organization of Catholic women committed to upholding the
sanctity of each human life from conception to natural death.
11
WAL seeks to offer a public witness by women in defense of the
unborn and unwanted through personal
commitment, educational efforts, prayer and home and
professional life.
WAL embodies a pro-life women’s perspective on the issue
of abortion.
WOMEN EXPLOITED BY ABORTION ["WEBA"].
WEBA was founded in 1982 in recognition of the fact that
abortion carries with it serious emotional, psychological and
physical consequences for women that were being ignored by
society. During the 1980's it became apparent that many women
felt they had been lied to about abortion and that abortion is not
a safe or simple procedure and that pro-abortionists’ public
statements to that effect had operated to deceive women.
WEBA initially focused on providing support and counseling
for women who have had abortions. By 1985, more than 30,000
women had contacted WEBA seeking help. Today, WEBA has
chapters throughout the United States and in seven foreign
countries. Each day WEBA’s headquarters alone receives 50 to
100 telephone calls and numerous letters per day from women
who are suffering because of abortion.
In addition to providing post-abortion counseling, WEBA
also provides counseling to women in crisis pregnancy situations
who may be considering abortion. WEBA provides information and
educational materials concerning the true nature of abortion and
also practical assistance and final alternatives to abortion. WEBA
also works to educate the public about abortion and its damaging
effects on women. From their own experiences, WEBA counselors
and volunteers understand that the easy availability of abortion
creates pressures on women which effectively negate other
options in dealing with the problem pregnancy.
WOMEN FOR FAITH AND FAMILY ["WFF"].
WFF, which has its main office in St. Louis, Missouri, was
incorporated in 1984. WEF is a Catholic women’s organization
which educates people on issues important to Catholics including
those related to the family and is intended to aid women in their
efforts to continually deepen their understanding of the Catholic
12
faith. WEF is an organization committed to pro-life principles from
conception to natural death. WFF specifically rejects the notion
that abortion, the deliberate killing of unborn children, is the “right”
of any human being, male or female, or of any government.
WFF conducts conferences and produces publications
wherein issues of Catholic faith and in support of family issues are
enunciated. WFF draws its membership from the United States,
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Holland. It has
approximately 50,000 affiliated women in the U.S. and
approximately 10,000 internationally.
WOMEN FOR LIFE (N.Z.), INC. ["WEFL"].
WEL is a New Zealand corporation, having been formed in
1978. Its national office is located in Auckland, New Zealand.
WEL defends the rights of the unborn child from conception
and supports the right to life of all persons until natural death.
WEL supports and encourages women in their role as mothers,
recognizing the major contributions made by them in their
child-rearing and home-making roles. We believe a mother should
have the right to be a full-time homemaker and a mother and that
government should take steps to insure that mothers can
economically exercise that right. We want to see the family once
again actively supported and recognized as the cornerstone of
society.
WEL lobbies the government on many issues, from daycare
to homepay for mothers who choose to stay at home to care for
their children. WFL submits material on pornography, the New
Zealand Human Rights Amendment Bill, contraception, sterilization
and the Abortion Amendment Bill. WFL presents. the
chastity-based program, "Learning to Say No, its Your Choice” into
high schools, youth groups and parents groups. WFL speaks on
abortion, homosexuality, daycare and condom failure. WFL is a
Christian organization whose members believe in the sanctity of
life, sound moral principles and family life.
WEL has a membership numbering 2,000, which is drawn
from Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Taranaki, Te Awamutu,
Northland, South Island and Palmerstown North in New Zealand.
WOMEN FOR WOMEN ["WFW"}.
13
WFW is a corporation that was formed in Indiana in 1987
to protect and foster respect for the sanctity of human life from
the moment of conception until natural death. WFW upholds the
Virgin Mary as a role model for women. WFW recognizes the
equality of men and women, while acknowledging their differences
SO as to promote the dignity and value of womanhood. In
addition, WFW upholds and propagates the virtue of chastity and
recognizes the true nature and essence of the sexual union and
natural family planning.
WFW is an educational organization that produces a
quarterly newsletter that addresses issues relating to feminism,
church and family issues. WFW has a readership of more than
1,500 and although WFW members are primarily Roman Catholic,
its membership derives from all denominations from 28 states,
Canada, India and the Philippines.
ACCION FAMILIAR ["AF"}.
AF is an unincorporated association that was formed in
1979 in Spain in order to help the family with all aspects of
problems facing the family today, including, in areas related to
legal and moral issues. Its main office is located in Madrid. AF
believes that the family is the root of all health and sickness in
society. AF promotes family values and supports the position that
life cannot be taken by anyone from the moment of conception
until natural death. AF believes in the stability of married couples.
AF disseminates information on family issues in national
political campaigns, and has proposed an amendment to Spain’s
abortion law which served to forestall its effectiveness for one
year. AF’s members appear on television and radio programs, they
lecture to school assemblies, and provide information to national
senators and congressmen and to international congresses on
matters relating to family values.
AF’s membership is approximately 15,000 and is drawn
from throughout the Spanish nation. Spanish citizens are generally
reluctant to be publicly associated with organizations, and
consequently AF’s support in Spain is far broader than that
signified by its membership numbers.
ALLIANCE FOR LIFE ["AFL"].
14
AFL was formed in Canada in 1972. The corporation’s
executive office is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its purposes
include educating Canadians on matters of human development,
human experimentation, reproductive technologies, adoption,
abortion, chastity, euthanasis and similar issues affecting human
life. AFL provides counseling and referral services to the public
with respect to unforeseen pregnancies and post-abortion trauma.
AFL provides educational services and materials for its member
groups to educate Canadians on human development, human
experimentation, reproductive technologies, adoption, abortion,
chastity, euthanasia and similar issues affecting human life. It has
researched and published articles, pamphlets, and newsletters on
issues Surrounding the right to life, principally on abortion matters.
It presents expert speakers on the issue of abortion, hosts
conferences and presents briefs to government and policy-making
organs. AFL has a 24 hour toll-free telephone line to counsel
women facing inconvenient pregnancies and has produced a one
hour television special on unplanned pregnancy and alternatives to
abortion. AFL is a coordinating organization for 250 educational
pro-life groups throughout Canada.
AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION, INC. ["AFA"].
AFA is a corporation organized in 1977 with offices in
Tupelo, Mississippi. AFA purpose is to be a leader of citizen and
church participation to promote traditional American values and to
apply the biblical ethic in society.
AFA’s local chapters are active in seeking to preserve the
lives of unborn children and the physical and emotional health of
their mothers.
AFA has approximately 600 local citizen chapters
throughout the U.S. which are active in seeking to preserve
community integrity through the implementation of public decency
laws. It has a subscribers list of more than 885,000 individuals
and churches for its monthly newsletter, AFA Journal.
APOSTOLATUS UNITE ["AU"].
AU was organized in 1986 and incorporated in Maryland in
1988. It has its offices in Woodstock, Virginia.
15
AU is a Catholic lay organization which has as its purpose
to bring people to Jesus Christ to experience the Holy Eucharist
through the Holy Mother of the Church, in union with the Holy
Father.
AU organizes Rosary Congresses which consist of one to
seven day prayer gatherings featuring Eucharistic adoration, Marian
devotion and sound church teaching. AU conducts evangelization
projects throughout the United States by bringing apostolates or
organizations together who share the mission for the Holy
Eucharist, Mary and the Church. One of AU’s main prayer efforts
is the World Prayer Movement which is ecumenical and global in
nature. A Global Week of Prayer is conducted annually during the
first week in October during which participants pray and fast to
end abortion. The Global Week of Prayer is conducted in 88
countries and has over 11 million participants.
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION Y DOCENCIA
Dedicated to the promotion of Natural Family Planning and
Defense of human life.
COALITIONS FOR AMERICA ["COA"}.
COA was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in
Washington, D.C.
COA is a grass-roots organizing and lobbying organization
that coordinates activities amongst about 100 organizations
nationwide in areas related to social issues, defense and foreign
policy, legal and judicial matters, political reform and economic
issues. COA takes a pro-life position on the abortion issue.
COA’s activities include conducting coalition meetings
wherein activities of the many organizations with which COA
works are coordinated and activities, including lobbying efforts, are
undertaken on their behalf. COA is not a membership organization
and has no members per se.
DELAWARE LAWYERS FOR LIFE ["DLL"}.
DLL is an unincorporated non-denominational association of
Delaware lawyers which was formed approximately one year ago.
16
DLL has a membership of more than 30 Delaware lawyers.
The organization is involved in the representation and counseling
of primarily single women who are clients of Birthright crisis
pregnancy centers. DLL counsels its clients on the legal aspects
of single parenthood, custody and visitation. In addition, DLL
defends people on First Amendment grounds who are arrested for
demonstrating in opposition to abortion.
DLL’s members respect and defend the sanctity of human
life frorn the moment of conception.
DELAWARE RIGHT TO LIFE ["DRL"].
DRL is a Delaware corporation with headquarters in
Newark, Delaware. The corporation was formed in 1973 in order
to educate people regarding issues of life, abortion and
euthanasia. DRL supports respect for human life from fertilization
until natural death.
DRL’s activities include giving speeches, manning display
boothes in community presentations, and sponsoring a "life chain”
twice per year. DRL sponsors speakers and transportation for the
"March for Life.” DRL has approximately 1,250 dues paying
members, with about twice that number on its newsletter mailing
list.
FACULTAD DE MEDICINA
Dedicated to the promotion of Natural Family Planning and
defense of human life.
FAMILY AND YOUTH CONCERN ["FYC"].
FYC was established in 1971 in the United Kingdom and
currently has a membership of approximately 25,000 people. FYC
is headquartered in Milton Keynes, England and has three branches
in the United Kingdom.
FYC is concerned with, and has acted as a focus for, the
welfare of the family and the issue of abortion which is necessarily
an important part of the overall concern for the family. The issues
of Aids, abortion, child abuse, divorce, illegitimacy, obscenity,
parental responsibility and pedophilia are all of concern to FYC as
manifestations of the underlying social dislocation that has been
17
called the breakdown of the family ecology. FYC’s sponsors
include many prominent persons from the medical profession,
including the former gynecologist to Her Majesty, the Queen.
Among FYC’s activities, are the production and promotion
of educational booklets and videos intended to enhance the value
of the traditional family and the value of human life.
FAMILY OF THE AMERICAS ["FOA"].
FOA was incorporated in 1977 in Missouri. This
organization, whose office is in Dunkirk, Maryland, provides
educational services to women and families on matters of natural
family planning and teaches parents to enable them to remain the
primary educators of their children regarding human sexuality.
FOA provides materials and offers training sessions to
educate teachers from all over the world in matters of natural
family planning. FOA’s educational materials have been translated
into more than 22 languages.
Although FOA does not have a membership per se, those
who work in its programs are drawn from throughout the world.
FAMILY PROTECTION LOBBY ["FPL"].
FPL is an unincorporated association which was formed in
Maryland in 1980. The purpose of FPL is to lobby the state
legislature on behalf of evangelical churches in Maryland and to
represent its membership on Judaeo-Christian issues, including in
support of the position that human life begins at conception.
FPL provides educational information to its 3,000 active members
and to those on its mailing list.
FPL’s membership is drawn from a broad spectrum of
evangelical and other protestant churches, as well as some
Catholic churches.
FREE SPEECH ADVOCATES ["FSA"].
FSA is a legal defense project with an office in Washington,
D.C., that exists to secure the First Amendment right to engage in
religious witness, peaceful sidewalk counseling, and protest of, or
conscientious objection to, the destruction of unborn human life.
FSA endeavors to assure a proper and competent defense, due
18
process and all constitutional rights to those who take a stand
against abortion.
FSA and its legal counsel have specialized in litigation in
both state and federal courts with regard to various First
Amendment issues.
HUMAN LIFE FOUNDATION OF NEW ZEALAND ["HLF"]. (NEW
DESCRIPTION)
HLF was formed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1984 and
incorporated in 1985 under the Charitable Trusts Act of 1957.
HLF’s objects are to promote the saving and protection of
human life throughout its whole course from the moment of
conception until natural death, with a view to the moral, ethical
and mental advancement of the public in order to educate the
public as to the need for respecting human life at every stage of its
development. Additionally, HLF strives to educate the public to
the sacredness and the dignity of natural procreation of human life
and of marriage and family life. It endeavors to educate the public
on all aspects of human life, its natural procreation (including
natural family planning), its development and its natural death.
HLF strives to conduct or encourage research into all aspects of
human life, its natural procreation (including natural family
planning), its development and its natural death, and to
disseminate the results of such research. It assists graduate or
undergraduate students or others to pursue studies or research at
any level in accord with the stated objectives, including the
provision of scholarships, bursaries, grants and/or payments of
expenses.
In furtherance of its goals, HLF disseminates information
and
submissions on issues concerning respect for life and the activities
associated with the establishment of life.
HUMAN LIFE INTERNATIONAL
Human Life International, the world’s largest pro-life
organization, was founded in 1981 by Father Paul Marx, O.S.B.,
Ph.D. Its mission: bring the pro-life/pro-family messange to
countries throughout the world. HLI
19
INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS FAMILIARES ["ICF"].
ICF was organized in 1952 and subsequently incorporated
in 1985 in Uruguay. ICF’s sole purpose is to foster natural family
planning. In fulfilling its purpose, it operates doctors’ consulting
rooms and trains instructors in natural family planning. ICF
conducts courses in sexual education and family counseling. It
publishes the Family Digest and gives talks on television and radio.
ICF conducts its own four year university course in the education
of Family Social Workers.
ICF, which has 19 members in its corporation and an
additional 50 persons who are employed or who volunteer their
services to the organization, operates in Uruguay, Argentina,
Paraguay and Brazil.
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS ["KOSC"].
KOSC is an unincorporated association formed in 1923 in
Auckland, New Zealand and now headquartered in Wellington. It
is an association of Catholic laymen active in the lay apostolate
and having over 500 members in 16 branches throughout New
Zealand.
KOSC is currently engaged in pro-life issues, speaking out
against the increasing number of abortions in New Zealand and
opposing the pro-euthanasia lobby. KOSC is represented on New
Zealand bio-ethics committees. KOSC has been effective in
marshalling the public in support of Catholic causes.
Membership in KOSC is broadly based and includes lawyers,
doctors and other professional men.
MARCH FOR LIFE ["MFL"].
MFL was incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1974. The
purpose of MFL is to insure the constitutional protection of the
right to life of each human being from fertilization. MFL lobbies
Congress and testifies on pro-life issues. MFL’s Board of Directors
has liaison with pro-life groups throughout the United States.
MARCH FOR LIFE EDUCATION AND DEFENSE FUND ["MLEDF"].
20
This corporation was formed approximately 13 years ago in
Washington, D.C. Endeavoring to protect the right to life of each
human being in existence from the moment of fertilization and to
provide care for the pregnant mother and her pre-born child,
MLEDF provides educational materials and conducts seminars
student contests and an annual convention and seminars on
pro-life issues. MLEDF sponsors the annual March for Life.
MLEDF’s membership, whichis comprised of those who contribute
time and/or money, is drawn from across the United States.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FAMILY AND LIFE ADVOCATES
("NIFLA"].
NIFLA was recently incorporated in April 1993. It is
headquartered in Manassas, Virginia.
NIFLA is not a membership organization. It advises,
counsels and gives legal assistance in matters of public interest
law, particularly to pro-life crisis pregnancy centers throughout the
United States, of which there are approximately 3,000.
NIFLA trains and provides legal assistance to pro-life crisis
pregnancy centers to enable them to support women in crisis
pregnancies so that they might carry their babies to term. In
addition, NIFLA educates the public at large, through speakers and
publications, on the issue of abortion and the need to provide
compassionate, caring alternatives to abortion.
NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE
UNBORN CHILD INCORPORATED ["NZS"].
incorporated in New Zealand in 1970, NZS has its national
office in Wellington.
NZS has more than 28,000 active financial supporters from
throughout the country, which is divided into 70 branches.
The objects of NZS are to uphold and promote the intrinsic
value of human life and to uphold and protect the rights of unborn
children from the time of conception. NZS seeks to uphold and
protect the rights of unborn children and it encourages and
promotes the study and research, collection and dissemination of
the information on the moral, medical, legal, political and social
implications of pregnancy and questions associated therewith.
NZS informs and educates the public on the need for legal and
21
other safeguards for protecting and preserving the rights of unborn
children. This organization assists and promotes the well-being of
mothers and children, both before and after childbirth and, in
particular, those who face adverse circumstances. NZS
encourages the formation of local constituent societies and
coordinates their activities on a national basis. NZS cooperates
with government departments, other organizations and individuals
engaged in fostering respect for human life, and in promoting
social conditions which will provide the best opportunities for
mothers and children. NZS subscribes to, and will work
purposefully towards, the achievement of the realizable ideal of no
abortions within society.
NZS develops systems to educate the public to influence
the political process and to insure that adequate law is established
and upheld. There is a common desire amongst NZS’ membership
to have all children protected both before and after birth. Its
members come from all walks of life, all age groups, and from
throughout New Zealand.
PRO-LIFE ACTION LEAGUE ["PLAL"].
PLAL was formed in 1980 when it was incorporated in
lilinois, where it continues to have its main office.
PLAL is a pioneer in pro-life activism. The league uses
every media opportunity to get the pro-life message out and to
bring the focus of public attention back to the unborn child.
Although PLAL has no actual membership, it does have
newsletter subscribers and supporters numbering between 8 and
10,000. PLAL’s supporters are drawn from throughout the U.S.,
Canada, Australia, Ireland and Africa.
PLAL, in its activites, stresses the importance of sidewalk
counseling at abortion clinics so as to offer women who are facing
crisis pregnancies an alternative to abortion. PLAL contributes
articles and letters to the media and has its representatives appear
on television and radio programs in support of its positions. It has
sponsored three conferences featuring former abortion providers
and promoters who have given up the abortion business and are
now actively pro-life.
RIGHT TO LIFE LEAGUE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ["RTLLSC"}.
22
RTLLSC is a California corporation, having been
incorporated in 1969. Its offices are located in Pasadena,
California.
RTLLSC’s purposes are twofold: to provide education and
service. RTLLSC’s education department handles several hundred
speaking requests per year. The league holds an annual
educational conference with nearly 500 people in attendance. Its
Collegians for Life have clubs on 30 campuses throughout
California. In addition, RTLLSC operates 13 Pregnancy Counseling
Centers, three medical clinics and four education chapters.
RTLLSC has a membership of approximately 50,000
families drawn mainly from Southern California. In 1992 alone,
RTLLSC counseled more than 20,000 women facing unplanned
pregnancies.
ROCKLAND COUNTY CATHOLIC COALITION ["RCC"].
This unincorporated association was organized in Rockland
County, New York in 1990. RCC is a grass-roots organization
seeking to educate, inform and speak out on issues supporting
Catholic teachings. RCC has approximately 750 members and a
mailing list of 4,000.
RCC conducts meetings at which positions in support of
Catholic teachings are taken. RCC members meet with
representatives of school boards and publicizes its positions by
communicating with the media and provides a speaking panel to
various organizations. RCC takes a position in support of the belief
that human life begins at conception and human life is entitled to
protection and respect from that point in time until natural death.
SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION FOR NATURAL FAMLY PLANNING
Organized in 1979. Dedicated to teaching fertility
awareness in schools, colleges and to groups of teachers, nurses,
doctors, and seminarians which enables couples to responsibly
plan their families. Teaches engaged and married couples about
natural family planning.
SERVICE AND-RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF ASIA ON FAMILY
AND CULTURE
23
Dedicated to go beyond welfare measures for the well-being
of women by promotiong natural family planning.
SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN
["“SPUC")].
SPUC is an unincorporated, non-profit English association
which was established in 1966. Its national headquarters are in
London, England.
SPUC was established to fight against the passage of the
Termination of Pregnancy Bill in England, a bill to legalize abortion
which was introduced into the House of Commons. SPUC was the
first group of its kind in the world. Since its inception, SPUC’s role
has been two-fold: educational and political. As its title implies,
its prime concern is to win legal protection for the unborn child
from the moment of conception until birth and so most of its our
work is concerned with spreading and extending knowledge of the
humanity of the human person before birth and demonstrating that
abortion represents the most fundamental abuse of human rights.
SPUC is regarded both inside and outside Parliament as the
premier political body fighting against abortion and euthanasia and
in performing educational and research work. SPUC has won
worldwide recognition particularly with the production of a box-set
of fetal models, "How You Began", with accompanying text,
which was developed in consultation with experts in obstetrics and
gynecology, pediatrics and embryology.
SPUC has 50,000 paying members and 300 local groups
throughout the United Kingdom. In addition to its headquarters in
London, SPUC has full-time offices in Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff,
Preston, Stockton, Barrow and South London.
SPUC’s trained speakers fulfill thousands of speaking
engagements each year throughout the country, addressing
schools, universities and colleges. In addition, it produces millions
of leaflets each year to the genera! public. SPUC has a number of
specialist divisions, including a Handicap Division which comprises
people with severe disabilities and their close relatives who
campaign and are trained to speak out for the right to life of the
disabled both before and after birth. In addition, SPUC has
established a national organization called British Victims of
Abortion through which women who have had abortions reach out
24
to others to provide counseling and healing following the abortion
experience. ;
SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL IN NEW ZEALAND ["SSV"].
Originally formed in France in 1833, SSV was incorporated
in New Zealand in 1883.
SSV is an international charitable organization whose
members practice Christianity by helping those in need on a
person-to-person basis. Although Catholic in origin and character,
SSV is open to all who wish to live their faith by loving their
neighbors in the person of the needy and by helping people
regardless of race, color or creed in all their temporal, personal and
Spiritual needs.
SSV has approximately 2,500 members (New Zealand’s
total population is only 3.5 million) drawn from throughout New
Zealand. SSV has 25 central and district councils and 169
branches.
WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR THE FAMILY
Dedicated to helping parents to remain primary educators
of their children. The organization is a strong defender of human
life from the moment of conception and they promote the natural
method of family planning.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
This Court should grant certiorari in this case. The Court in
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) declined to decide the most
important issues presented by J.M.’s petition: when does the life
of the child begin and, if the child is a human being prior to birth,
does the child have constitutional rights.
The question of when the child’s life begins was
intentionally left to future courts because of the Roe Court’s
Oe ee a ee Te
25
concern about the inadequacy of "man’s knowledge" in 1973. This
question is before this Court in the first instance and the only
criteria for its disposition is the correctness of the court’s
determination, not principles of stare decisis, as though Roe had
attempted to resolve the inquiry. It is the affirmative duty of this
Court to resolve these questions now it is clear they can be
resolved.
The legal significance of the fact that the child is a human
being who experiences pain has never before been considered. No
acceptance of Aoe is possible until the Court does so.
Because the child is a human being prior to birth, none of
the concerns of the Court, expressed in Roe, such reliance, and
workability, are principles that preclude a decision in the J.M. case
that would have a different result than Roe, recognizing the child
has a right to live. Such a determination would demonstrate that
Roe, in reality, was gravely at odds with principles that protect the
most basic of human liberties: the welfare of children and their
very existence.
Until these central issues are addressed, and the Court can
state, with conviction, that all of the issues are correctly decided,
26
as if before the Court for the first time, it seems unlikely that Roe
can ever be respected or accepted.
RGUMENT
I. TH TRA ASE HA
NEVER | ND _|
THEREF ; INA
FOR
OVERRULING ROE V, WADE ARE COMPLETELY SATISFIED
Y_ THE FACT | H HOULD
RANT THE WRI | HILD’S RIGHTS.
As much as anything else, this Court’s decision in Planned
Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. _,
112 S.Ct. 2791 (1992) reaffirmed the central holding in the
twenty-year old case of Roe v. Wade, 410 u.s. 113 (1973) based
upon principles of stare decisis.' The Joint Opinion of the Court
explained:
We do not need to say whether each of us, had we been
Members of the Court when the valuation of the State
interest came before it as an original matter, would have
concluded, as the Roe court did, that its weight is
insufficient to justify a ban on abortions prior to viability -
' Two of the three authors previously expressed views that apparently challenged
Roe’s central holding; see, Thornburgh v. A.C.0.G., 476 U.S. 747, 814, 828
(O’Connor, J., dissenting: "1 do, however, remain of the views expressed in my
dissent in Akron, 462 U.S. at 459-466. The state has compelling interests in
ensuring the general health and protecting potential human life, and these
interests exist ‘throughout pregnancy’"). Justice Kennedy joined in the opinion
of the Chief Justice in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490
(1989), in which he stated: "We do not see why the state’s interest in protecting
potential human life should come into existence only at the point of viability.”
core eeeeteretteentattnacceaaeaaecicaaiaaiaaaiiiliiaiiieaaiiiaiiial
27
even when it is subject to certain exceptions. The matter is
not before us in the first instance, and coming as it does
after nearly twenty years of litigation in Roe’s wake we are
satisfied that the immediate question is not the soundness
of Roe’s resolution of the issue, but the precedental force
that must be accorded to its holding. Casey, 112, S.Ct. at
2817.
The principles of stare decisis do not preclude a decision in
the case of J.M. v. V.C. which is different from that reached in
Roe for two separate reasons: [1] the central issue in this case
[when does the life of the child begin? and, if the child is a human
being prior to birth do those children have constitutional rights?]
was not decided in Aoe at all; and [2] even if the doctrine of stare
decisis does apply, J.M. v. V.C. meets all of the requirements to
overrule Roe.
A.
THE QUESTION OF WHEN THE LIFE OF A CHILD BEGINS WAS
NOT DECIDED BY ROE AND IT IS THEREFORE THE DUTY OF
THIS COURT TO RESOLVE THE QUESTION. IT WAS THE
PROMISE OF ROE THAT A SUBSEQUENT COURT WOULD
DECIDE THIS ISSUE WHEN "MAN’S KNOWLEDGE" WAS
SUFFICIENT.
Roe did not decide when the life of a child begins. The Roe
Court specifically, and with deliberation, found that in 1973 it was
unable to determine that question:
We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins.
When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine,
philosophy and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus,
the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s
28
knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.
410 U.S. at 159 (emphasis added).
Roe specifically reserved this particular issue for later Courts by
recognizing that "man’s knowledge” grows and expands with new
information and greater appreciation of the old. Roe recognized
sufficiency of knowledge is a function of time and although "at
this point in the development of man’s knowledge” (1973) the
Court could not reach a conclusion, the decision is reserved for
future review.
Here, this issue is before this Court, "in the first instance,” and
the only criteria for its disposition is the correctness of the Court’s
determination. The Court is in no sense bound by Roe’s inability to
determine this issue, and stare decisis is not, in the strict niten.
applicable to this issue in this case. C.f., Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S.
186, 236-237 (1962); Penna.-Reading, S.S. Lines v. Bd. of Pub.
Utility Commrs., 5 N.J. 114, 121-124 (if facts, which form the
basis for a constitutional principle, differ in a subsequent case, the
first is not even precedent as to the second). The legal significance
of the fact that the child is a human being experiencing pain was
never before considered.
Danaea eet aatetaetaeienee iit
29
Casey calls for the nation to accept Roe’s central holding in an
effort to finally resolve a divisive national debate. But Roe itself
never made a ruling upon the central issue before it, reserving it for
future Courts. There can never be an acceptance of Roe until this
Court decides these central issues and is able to explain, with
conviction, that its decision is legally correct. It would constitute
a "breach of faith” with the people of this nation, as well as to the
very constitutional principles on which it is built, if the court left
unaddressed the issue on which the entire debate turns. By refus-
ing to answer the question of when life begins, Roe made nothing
short of a promise that this court would answer that question
when it could. It must now do so, correctly and with conviction.
"At this point in the development of man’s knowledge” it is
clear that a child is a complete, separate human being from
conception (and surely long before "viability") (see pet., p. 18-35)
and this fact renders Roe’s analysis on the question of the child’s
rights irrelevant (see, pet., p. 11 to 17). These matters are left for
this court and no interpretation of stare decisis absolves the court
of the duty to resolve them.
B. EVEN IF PRINCIPLES OF STARE DEC/S/S WERE APPLICABLE
TO THIS CASE, BECAUSE OF NEW FACTS AND NEW
APPRECIATION OF OLD ONES, STARE DEC/SIS DOES NOT
inate
30
PRECLUDE THE COURT FINDING THAT THE CHILD HAS
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS PRIOR TO BIRTH.
Casey described four principles of stare decisis which it felt
precluded overruling Roe: (1) there is no change of fact; (2) Roe is
not inconsistent with other principles of constitutional law; (3)
reliance; and (4) workability. Casey, 112 S.Ct. at 2808-2812. All
of these are satisfied in this case, on the issue of the child’s rights.
1. New Facts and New Appreciation of Old Ones.
William O. Douglas, a member of the majority in Roe, wrote of
stare decisis:
[a] search for a static security - in the law - is misguided. The
fact is that security can only be achieved through constant
change, through the wise discarding of old ideas...and through
the adopting of others to current facts. \t is easy...to
overemphasize stare decisis as a principle in the lives of men.
... The difficulty is to estimate what effect a slightly different
shade of facts will have. (emphasis added) Douglas, William O.,
Stare Decisis, 49 Colum. L. Rev. 735-743, 735-736 (1949).
The new information now available on when the life of a child
begins, and the fact that the child experiences pain as early as
eight weeks after conception (see Pet. p. 18 to 35) is of particular
significance.
First, once it is appreciated that the child is a human being who
experiences pain before birth, Roe, itself, to be upheld would have
to completely ignore prior holdings of the Court, and other
a |
31
authorities. (see, Pet. p. 11 to 17; p. 35 to 47; p. 58-59, n. 87).
If Roe itself ignored prior precedent it would be difficult to
conceive of a justification to extend any precedental value in the
Roe decision. To do so would frustrate stare decisis because a
maverick opinion could change law without regard to the doctrine,
and then subsequent courts would be bound by stare decisis to
follow an opinion which originally ignored stare decisis principles.
Second, new facts or new appreciation of old ones are often the
basis to overrule prior precedent. Casey found that there were no
new facts on the issues before them concerning the state power
to intrude in personal decisions of a woman (Casey, 112 S.Ct. at
2811-2812). Yet, Casey cited Justice Brandeis’ dissenting opinion
in Burnet v. Coronado Oil and Gas Co., 285 U.S. 393, 405-413
with approval, that in many instances when the Court applies the
Due Process Clause, the issue before the Court is a mixed question
of fact and law, and the nature of the factual inquiry should not be
obscured merely because it is a court that makes the
determination. 285 U.S. at 410-411. Whether the child is a human
being who enjoys constitutional rights is precisely such a mixed
question (see, Pet., p. 15 to 17).
32
When this Court, in Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961),
overruled Wo/f v. Colarado, 338 U.S. 25(1949), decided only
twelve years earlier, the court based its ruling on a new
appreciation of facts which made the "“"Exclusionary Rule”
necessary. Mapp is an example of a case which applied the Due
Process Clause and involved a mixed question of fact and law. The
facts suggested the need for a particular method of implementation
of a recognized right. In the strictest sense, abortion is a method
of implementing an underlying privacy right. In Baker v. Carr,
supra, in which the court overruled Co/egrove v. Green, 328 U.S.
547 (1946), and distinguished Co/egrove v. Barrett, 330 U.S. 804,
the Court reasoned that new facts required the result.
In J.M., two ultimate facts must now be taken into
consideration: this is indeed a human being from conception, and
these children experience pain (Pet. p. 18 to 35). Both of these
facts constitute a new appreciation of old ones. They dictate new
recognition of the interests of the child and father, give rise to the
child’s rights, and impact upon the application of the Due Process
Rights involved. Burnet, supra, (Brandeis, J. dissenting), 285 U.S.
at 405-413. In addition, our experiences since Roe, because of
new advances in contraception and the disappearance of social
—_
33
stigma, renders abortion as an unnecessary method of
impiementation of the privacy interest sought to be protected, as
well as one which unjusting impacts the child. C.f. Mapp v. Ohio,
supra.
2. Whether Roe is in Conflict with Prior Precedent at Odds with
Personal Liberties Depends Upon Whether the Child is a Human
Being.
The Casey majority argued that Roe is not in conflict with prior
precedent and does not influence developments at odds with
personal liberties. This statement is incorrect when the child’s
humanity must be acknowledged. (see, petition of J.M. at p. 58 to
50, including n. 87).
Casey’s suggestion would have to ignore the reality that before
birth the child is a human being who experiences pain. Roe,
conflicts with all law which seeks to protect the best interests of
children and is tragicly fatal to children who suffer during abortion,
as well as detrimental to many children who survive it. Before Roe,
the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the child was a separate
person whose life began at conception and had constitutional
rights before birth. Smith v. Brennan, 157 A.2d 497, 504-505
(1960); Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital v. Anderson,
422 N.J. 421, 201 A.2d 537 (1964). This interpretation of New
34
Jersey law was recently affirmed in Hummel v. Reiss, 608 A.2d
1341, 1345-1346 (1992). Smith v. Brennan, and Raleigh Fitkin
reflected New Jersey's strong policy for protecting life over its
destruction. Smith, 31 N.J. at 364; Raleigh Fitkin, 422 N.J. at
423, 424. This policy, prior to Roe, resulted in protection of
children from the harm and pain of abortions. See N.J.S.A. 2A:87-
1. (To perform an abortion was a high misdemeanor which brought
a penalty of fifteen years of incarceration. See New Jersey v.
Novak, 121 A.2d 5 21 (1956); New Jersey v. Sicilano, 117 A.2d
490 (1956)). In refusing to recognize a tort action for the so called
“wrongful birth" claims the New Jersey Supreme Court eloquently
explained the public policy of New Jersey against abortion:
It is basic to the human condition to seek life and hold on to it
however, heavily burdened. ...the right to life is inalienable in
our society. ...we are not faced here with the necessity of
balancing a mother’s life against that of a child. The sanctity of
a single human life is the decisive factor ...(that) it may have
been easier for the mother and less expensive for the father to
terminate the life of the child while he was an embryo, but these
alleged determinants cannot stand against the preciousness of
a single human life ... Gleitman v. Cosgrove, 227 A.2d 689
(1967).
Roe required New Jersey to abandon its policy of protecting the
lives of children. in 1979, even when Roe compelled New Jersey
Ds see casein hiliadaia dain danaa dealin
35
to recognize the wrongful birth cause of action, its Supreme Court
noted:
One of the most deeply held beliefs of our society is that life ...
is more precious than nonlife (citation omitted) ... concrete
manifestations of this belief are not difficult to discover.
Documents which set forth principles upon which our society
are founded are replete with references to the sanctity of life.
The federal constitution characterizes /ife as one of the three
fundamental rights of which no one can be deprived without due
process of law ... our own constitution proclaims that the
‘enjoyment and defending of life’ is a natural rights. N.J.
CONST. (1947), ART. 1, SEC. |. The declaration of independence
states that the primacy of man’s ‘unalienable’ right to life is a
‘self-evident truth’. Nowhere in these documents is there to be
found an indication that the life of persons suffering from
handicaps are to be less cherished than those non-handicapped
human beings. Berman v. Allan, 80 N.J. 421, 429, 404 A.2d 8
(1979).
The harm created by Roe is quite evident when the Court
recognizes that the unborn child is a human being. Law that was
carefully developed to protect innocent lives was swept away
because the Court has failed to acknowledge that these were
persons in fact. For the children who are not aborted, Aoe is often
cruel. New Jersey now feels compelled to tell children that doctors
who fail to inform their parents that the child may be born with a
handicap, must pay large sums of money to their parents because
their parents lost an opportunity to terminate their lives. (See
Berman v. Allan, 80 N.J. 420 (1979); Procanik v. Cillo, 97 N.J.
36
339, 478 A.2d 755 (1984). That these chidren must live with this
knowledge is harm fostered by Aoe.
A father has no right to demand an abortion, nor should he. His
embarrassment, hardship, or distress that flow from an unplanned
pregnancy, whether he is prepared to rear or support the child, is
irrelevant to whether society should extend him the "right" to take
the child’s life. However, where the right he seeks to enforce is
one consistent with the child’s best interest, the same statute that
imposes obligations upon him based upon the single act of-
conception, extends to him the right to affirmatively choose to
discharge his obligations through custody or visitation and support.
Likewise, under the adoption statutes, a judgment of adoption
cannot be entered against the natural father over his objection,
unless there is a specific finding of abandonment or neglect.
N.J.S.A. 9:3-46. The right of a natural father who is not married
to the mother is based solely upon his status as genetic father. See
In re Adoption of a Child by J.R.D., 246 N.J. Super. 619
(Ch.Div.1990).
The issue can be framed in different ways. Casey may choose
to frame the issue as a father blocking the mother’s right to take
the life of her own child. More to the point is that what V.C.
bn ccanieteieieneneaileiniaiiaaaatiaatiiditaiiiatin aan
37
proposes is that the father’s enjoyment of the benfits of his
relationship with his child, his fundamental constitutional rights,
can be entrusted to another who could arbitrarily destroy a
relationship with his child for any reason.
Building on Roe, Casey found that although a father’s
constitutional rights and those of a mother are “equal” after birth
the mother’s can destroy those of a father before built. Casey, 112
S.Ct. at 2830. This may be the consequence of Aoe, but it is
drastically in conflict with precedent dealing with the equal
protection of the laws. See Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 (1976);
Califano v. Goldfarb, 430 U.S. 199, (1977); (gender based
classifications require at least an interemediate level of scrutiny;
strict scrutiny if there is a denial of a fundamental right?).
Under the New Jersey parentage act N.J.S.A. 9:17-40 et seg.
the obligations of J.M. as father are derived from the fact of
conception alone. The birth is the natural consequence of the
conception.
If the fundamental constitutional right of the father is implicated,
then the creation of a classification extending exclusive decision
? Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618, 638 (1969); Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186
(1962); Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 561-562 (1964).
38
making power to the mother violates equal protection, because
there would be no compelling interest of the State. Shaprio, supra;
Baker, supra. \f his constitutional rights are not fundamental, the
classification created is gender based, requiring intermediate
scrutiny. Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 397 (1976). As a result,
the State classification must serve important governmental
objectives and must be substantially related to the achievement of
the objectives. The objective here is to protect the right of the
mother to participate in making decisions about whether she
should have children. See Roe, 410 U.S. at 153. That objective is
already served. Once the mother conceives, she aleady has a child.
The inconvenience of the mother in carrying the child, although
real and substantial, can never outweigh the child’s interest in life.
3. Given the Fact that the Child is a Human Being, the Principles
of Reliance (and Workability) Has no Application.
Casey states the fact that some segments of our society have
relied upon the court’s prior holding in Roe requires affirmance,
Casey, 112 S.Ct. at 2809, even if it cannot assert that it was
correctly decided in the first instance. 112 S.Ct. at 2817.
By Casey’s own calculation, the last case before this Court
which required it to determine an issue of the magnitude of those
Tiananmen nema
39
in the J.M. case, was Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, 347 U.S.,
483 (1954). Casey, 112S.Ct. at 2814-2815. The irony of Casey’s
discussion of reliance is in the fact it was the very argument of
those who sought in Brown to perpetuate racial segregation by
affirmance of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). The
reliance argument found in Casey is indistinguishable from the
reliance argument of the four states seeking to preserve
segregation in the consolidated cases that are universally known
as Brown v. Bd. of Ed.°*
Invoking the premise that longstanding principles which have
been continually relied upon should be left unchanged, John W.
Davis argued in Briggs, supra, that “somewhere, sometime to
every principle comes a moment of repose when it has been so
often announced, so confidently relied upon, so long continued,
that it passes the limits of judicial discretion and disturbance.” 49A
> The Brown case was actually a grouping of four segregation cases decided
together. The accompanying cases were Briggs v. Elliott, Davis v. County School
Board of Prince Edward County, VA, and Gebhart v. Belton. These cases
concerned various statutes pertaining to school segregation in the respective
States of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. Although it was decided
separately, Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497 (1954) was also argued with Brown.
The initial oral argument for these cases occurred before the United States
Supreme Court on December 9-11, 1952, while the Court was presided over by
Chief Justice Vinson. The cases were subsequently reargued, upon the request
of the Court, on December 7-9, 1953, with Earl Warren having succeeded Mr.
Vinson as Chief Justice.
40
Landmark Briefs at 490. Davis asserted that the South Carolina
statute must stand because:
{wle relied on the facts that this Court had, not once but seven
times, ... pronounced in favor of the "separate but equal”
doctrine. We relied on the fact that the courts of last appeal in
some sixteen or eighteen states have passed upon the validity
of the “separate but equal” doctrine vis-a-vis the Fourteenth
Amendment. We relied on the fact that Congress has
continuously since 1862 segregated its schools in the District of
Columbia. id. (Emphasis added).
Indeed, it was the theme of all of the States that desegregation
was contrary to longstanding customs and traditions which were
"deeply ingrained", the disturbance of which would cause such
dire consequence that on those grounds alone Plessy had to be
affirmed. See, J. Lindsay Almond, id. at 383-384; 512-513;
Kansas, id. at 752; Davis, id. at 490-491; T. Justin More, Id. a
407; 510-511; Casey observed:
While we think Plessy was wrong the day it was decided,
(citation omitted), we must also recognize that the Plessy
court’s explanation for its decision was so clearly at odds with
the facts apparent to the court in 1954 that the decision to
examine Plessy was on this ground alone not only justified but
required. Casey, 112 S.Ct. at 2813.
This statement is pertinent in the J.M. case because, whether
or not the Roe court believed that it could not determine when the
life of a human being began, no one could, in light of the present
evidence, dispute that the biological life of a complete, separate
scare eenaamaaeaeaacaasaeaaeacassaaaemenamamaarasaas ree el
41
and individual human being begins at conception. The court likens
Brown to Roe, but Roe more resembles Plessy than it resembles
Brown. The Brown case more resembles J.M. Roe simply does not
possess the moral force of Brown. Brown corrected a wrong. Roe
created one.
The Court should grant certiorari in this case with no fear that
overruling Roe would be any more difficult to implement than
Brown was, and no harder for the public to accept. When it is
understood that these children are human beings, who experience
pain and that the premise of this nation is that the life of every
human being has value, and that each one of us is unique and
irreplaceable, an acceptance of overturning Roe will follow, if
overruling it is. CONCLUSION
Because Aoe did not determine the central issues presented by
this case, and the principles of stare decisis, as applied to this
case, do not otherwise preclude overruling Roe, the Court should
grant a writ of certiorari in this case.
O /) -)
, a , .
ES GO ee
CALUM B. ANDERSON, ESQ.
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.