By Currents News Staff
The people who work at the Life Center of New York in Bay Ridge have made it their life mission to save babies: they’ve helped nearly 40,000 women in 40 years.
That’s why, when Executive Director Fred Trabulsi learned the Supreme Court would soon hear a Mississippi case that would challenge a portion of Roe v. Wade, he was inspired.
“We are very hopeful that this will begin our society turning from a culture of death to a culture of life,” Fred said. “As great St. John Paul II said, ‘we have to change the culture.'”
He’s not alone. Pro-life advocates across the country have been applauding the high court for taking on this case.
“This is a watershed moment,” said Kathleen Gallagher. She’s the New York State Catholic Conference’s Director for Pro-life Activities.
The Mississippi law bans most abortions after 15 weeks. Right now, that’s considered unconstitutional because it’s way before fetal viability estimated at 24 to 28 weeks.
“Under Roe v. Wade, any pre-viability abortion ban is unconstitutional, so they would have to tinker with Roe v. Wade to do anything to ban abortion before viability,” Kathleen said.
Kathleen says the ruling could have a huge impact on other laws. Like the “heartbeat bill” recently passed in Texas that bans abortion as early as six weeks.
“About half the states in the country have some kind of abortion ban in place that could be upheld if the court upholds this Mississippi law,” Kathleen explained.
While there’s no way to know how the Supreme Court will vote, pro-life advocates are cautiously hopeful.
“Now we have a different U.S. Supreme Court,” Kathleen said. “The make-up is different, so there is some optimism and some hope that the court might uphold a pre-viability abortion ban.”
Of the 6-3 conservative majority, all six justices have taken positions against abortion in the past. That includes new justice, Amy Coney Barrett, who publicly spoke out against abortion.
Right now, most legal experts say that this case won’t be the final nail in the coffin for Roe, but it’ll be a major step in that direction.
A step in the right direction is a source of hope for pro-life advocates like Cathy Donohoe. Cathy is the president of the Bridge to Life, a support center for pregnant women in the Diocese of Brooklyn. She says she’s “absolutely thrilled” about the possibilities.
“It is our chance to stop abortion in our generation, in our lifetime,” Cathy explained, “all of these cuts, chopping away of the laws is good for us because so many more children can be saved.”