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Shop NowThe Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear a case about whether unborn children legally possess rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Catholics For Life and the two Rhode Island women, one Nichole Leigh Rowley and the other known as Jane Doe, filed an appeal to the high court seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that found unborn children did not have any legal standing to challenge a state law ordering the right to an abortion.
Lawyers for the Catholic organization and the women said the instance “presents the opportunity for this court to meet that inevitable question head-on” by deciding whether unborn children have due process and equal protection rights under the law.
Both women, who were pregnant at the time of the filing and also have given birth since the case began, filed the claim on behalf of unborn children, Reuters reported.
According to The Boston Globe, the petition to SCOTUS asked the court to decide, in light of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
The petition read in part, “the Rhode Island Supreme Court erred in holding that the unborn petitioners, regardless of gestational age, are not entitled to the protections and guarantees of the due process and equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution.”
One of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Diane Messere Magee, tweeted about the ruling.
“It means that they will not take up our case to determine whether unborn human beings have any rights or guarantees of protection under the US Constitution. While we are extremely disappointed with this outcome, we are confident that #SCOTUS will eventually have to answer the question in the future.”
disappointed with this outcome, we are confident that #SCOTUS will eventually have to answer the question in the future. @reuters @newsmax @FitzProv 2/2 pic.twitter.com/IJBaUEjzI3
— Diane Messere Magee, Esq. (@AttyDMM) October 11, 2022
Governor of Rhode Island Daniel McKee, a Democrat, was apparently celebratory following the ruling. According to Reuters, spokesperson Matt Sheaff said in a statement,
“We’re satisfied that the Supreme Court declined to hear this frivolous appeal. Governor McKee believes that we should be expanding access to reproductive healthcare for women, is committed to using his veto pen to block any legislation that would take our state backwards.”
