A shorter version of this release was sent to media and supporters yesterday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday True North Legal, a legal initiative of Minnesota Family Council, filed an amicus brief in the upcoming United States Supreme Court case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which will be argued this fall, urging the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
True North Legal’s General Counsel Renee Carlson co-authored the brief with Professor Teresa Collett of the University of St. Thomas School of Law and Director of the Law School’s Prolife Center. Several allied groups joined as parties to the brief, namely former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom, The Family Leader (Iowa), the Center for Political Renewal, Family Heritage Alliance, and Nebraska Family Alliance.
The brief makes the case that the harms to women and families caused by current abortion law, beginning with Roe v. Wade in 1973, have not been fully addressed by the Court. It points to the relationship between statutory rape and abortion, in which abortion gives rapists, handlers, and others who hold a position of power over young women a way to cover up their crimes. As the brief states, “Roe and its progeny are the catalyst to these social atrocities, protecting men who would otherwise be criminally charged. Roe has turned statutory rape laws designed to protect young women into a license to cover up crimes against them.“
Speaking about the impact of the brief, Carlson says: “Americans are waking up to the reality that abortion jurisprudence has gravely impacted women and society – and various studies and empirical data expose that truth. As a result of Roe and its progeny, for nearly 50 years Courts have relied on the perverse notion that abortion is the ‘great rescuer’ of women and girls—we now know how far from the truth that is.”
Minnesota Family Council CEO John Helmberger praised the partnership with allied groups, particularly former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom. “We’re grateful for the support of former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom, in bringing this brief to the Court. He recognizes, as do our attorneys and other allied organizations, the harms to women and girls from Roe, and all the cases that follow it, are incalculable. Submitting this brief to the Court is a clear message that we will not stand on the sidelines while the lives of Minnesotans in the womb and the wellbeing of girls and women hang in the balance.”
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True North Legal is a legal initiative of Minnesota Family Council and Institute.
Minnesota Family Council advocates for strong families, communities, and culture through Christ. MFC believes that Minnesota thrives when religious freedom flourishes, life is cherished at all stages, and God’s design for family and sexuality is honored and lived.
