CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has joined a 24-state brief supporting the rights of individual states to regulate abortion in a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I’m proud to join attorneys general from across the nation in this brief to advocate for the sanctity of human life,” Morrisey said. “It’s long past time to overturn the flawed Supreme Court decisions which led to the tragic deaths of so many unborn children.
"Our Constitution should never have been interpreted in such a manner to override states’ compelling interest to protect innocent life.”
The friend-of-the-court brief, filed July 29, supports a Mississippi law that limits abortions to 15 weeks gestation.
The attorneys general argue that the Constitution affords states the right to prohibit certain elective abortions before viability where a rational basis exists to do so. They further argue that nothing in the Constitution, history, or national tradition supports a right to abortion and that the court has no business deciding public policy in this area.
In addition to upholding the 15-week law, Mississippi also asks the Supreme Court to overturn the pro-abortion rulings, Roe v. Wade of 1973 and Planned Parenthood v. Casey of 1992. It argues the high court should return decisions over abortion to the states.
Joining West Virginia in the Texas-led brief were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.