Document Type
Brief
Case Name
Alberto R. Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
Publication Date
8-3-2006
Abstract
No. 05-1382
Alberto R. Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
From the Summary of Argument
For as long as the American public has known about partial-birth abortion, we have—by comfortable and consistent margins—agreed with former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that this gruesome practice is “infanticide, and one would be too many.” Meet the Press (NBC television broadcast, Mar. 2, 1997). Whether we oppose elective abortions as a matter of moral principle or regard a woman’s legal access to abortion as a component of ordered liberty; whether we regret this Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), as occasions of dramatic and damaging judicial overreaching or as vindications of privacy and autonomy; and whatever our views might be on a wide range of economic, social, and political questions, we have repeatedly and overwhelmingly concluded, in jurisdiction after jurisdiction, that partial-birth abortion is a barbarism that may and should be prohibited. The Court’s Amici believe this conclusion is entirely consistent with our shared, abiding commitment to individual freedom under and through the rule of law, and it is one that our Constitution permits us to embrace. In our “democratic society,” the debate over partial-birth abortion continues, and this Court should not cut it short. Cf. Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 735 (1997) (“Our holding permits this debate to continue, as it should in a democratic society.”).
Recommended Citation
Baylor, Gregory S.; Aden, Steven H.; Garnett, Richard W.; and Paulsen, Michael Stokes, "Brief Amici Curiae of Christian Legal Society, National Association of Evangelicals, Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, Alliance Defense Fund and Concerned Women for America in Support of Petitioner" (2006). Court Briefs. 66.
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/sct_briefs/66
Comments
The Statements of Interest of Amici Curiae Christian Legal Society, National Association of Evangelicals, Pro- Life Legal Defense Fund, Alliance Defense Fund and Concerned Women for America are set out in Appendix A hereto. All are nonprofit membership or advocacy organizations that have taken public positions against partial-birth abortion and have sought to end its practice by means of legislative action, education and legal advocacy.