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The US Supreme Court, including newly appointed Brett Kavanaugh, miserably failed pro-life citizens this week.
In refusing to take a case involving two states wanting to essentially defund Planned Parenthood, the Court missed an opportunity to bring clarity to an area of the law about which the lower courts are very divided and confused.
Justice Thomas, who did not join the majority, gave a fiery dissent.
Be informed.
Six of the 9 justices on the Supreme Court, this week, refused to take two cases out of Kansas and Louisiana---cases that could have allowed the states to defund the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
Heritage Foundation's Daily Signal called it a missed opportunity.
Justice Clarence Thomas saw it as much more than a "missed opportunity."
He was passionate.
The background.
Both states and several others moved to revoke taxpayer funding for the abortion champion after videos exposed Planned Parenthood allegedly selling body parts of aborted babies. Planned Parenthood sued the states, and the 10 Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Kansas cannot defund PP, despite an investigation by the US Department of Justice into its aborted baby body parts trade.
Justice Thomas, Gorsuch, and Alito dissented, the other 6 justices chose to duck the issue and refuse to hear it.
Granted, the issue was about more than abortion. It involved a number of parts including Medicaid, but the confusion in lower courts could have been cleared up if the Supreme Court would have done their job.
The real question was, "Does the federal law allow individual Medicaid recipients to sue over states' Medicaid provider decisions?
While these cases are not directly associated with abortion, abortion looms large in the background.
And this was an important issue which is wrought with confusion in the lower courts. The Supreme Court chose not to bring clarity.
Justice Thomas strongly disagreed with his colleagues.
In his written dissent, the dependable, conservative constitutionalist said,
"What explains the Court's refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named Planned Parenthood."
Thomas said the court made a “mess” of the matter, and blamed the other justices for not wanting to touch a case involving the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
“What explains the court’s refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named ‘Planned Parenthood',” Thomas wrote in his dissenting opinion.
Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas, but Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the four liberal justices in refusing to hear the case.
Thomas said he was particularly troubled by the majority decision because the case has nothing to do with abortion. Instead, it is about Medicaid and patients’ rights.
“It is true that these particular cases arose after several States alleged that Planned Parenthood affiliates had, among other things, engaged in ‘the illegal sale of fetal organs’ and ‘fraudulent billing practices,’ and thus removed Planned Parenthood as a state Medicaid provider.”
“But these cases are not about abortion rights,” he continued. “They are about private rights of action under the Medicaid Act. Resolving the question presented here would not even affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to challenge the States’ decisions.”
“Some tenuous connection to a politically fraught issue does not justify abdicating our judicial duty,” Thomas concluded.
I certainly hope this is not a precursor to the way Roberts and Kavanaugh will rule in cases that are specifically about abortion...and Planned Parenthood.
The folks at One News Now and their parent American Family Association had encouraged conservatives to be careful with Kavanaugh---particularly regarding abortion.
In fact, I quoted them following President Trump's nomination of Kavanaugh, however, once the nomination was in place and hearings underway, most conservatives supported his confirmation.
American Family Association officially backed off their concern, and based on the assurances of most evangelical leaders, AFA put their support behind Kavanaugh.
One News Now said this yesterday:
Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined a majority of the high court in a 6-3 decision that turned away an appeal from two states, Kansas and Louisiana, after they withheld tax funds from Planned Parenthood, the country's biggest abortion provider and a hero of Democrats and far-left feminists.
Only four votes were necessary for the high court to take up the case, so pro-life groups were shocked that the embattled pro-life nominee they stood behind over the summer voted with the majority.
I was personally shocked and disappointed as well.
The future will confirm which way Kavanaugh will go regarding the most important issues and beliefs of those who supported Kavanaugh's nomination.
Jameson Taylor of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy said "we need to pray for them" following the 6-3 ruling.
Taylor continued with this: "This is a time for sackcloth, for ashes. We have an abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, that was caught trafficking in baby body parts...and they're getting off free."
Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Discerning.