Congressman Pfluger on Supreme Court's Hearings on Mississippi Anti-Abortion Law

OPINION — Babies deserve the right to live, and we have the responsibility to defend that right.

Today, the Supreme Court is considering the most critical abortion case since Roe v. Wade was tragically decided 50 years ago.

It has been 50 years too long. 50 years of abortions, 50 years of abandoning the defenseless, and 50 years of federal laws that violate the consciences of the vast majority of Americans - Americans who support life and are opposed to their hard-earned taxpayer dollars funding abortion.

But today, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to protect that right to life - an opportunity that the state of Texas is championing.

Since the passage of the Texas Heartbeat Law on September 1st, almost 10,000 Texan babies have been saved, pregnancy help centers and other women’s health clinics outnumber abortion clinics 20:1, and the state now spends $100 million on abortion-alternative services—including medical care and counseling.

I want to put this in perspective. As somebody who served in the military, most countries ascribe to the law of armed conflict. And when an enemy combatant—an enemy combatant—asks for mercy, and asks for their life to be saved, it is the law of armed conflict that directs combatants to save that life. Yet in America, we are not saving the lives of innocent babies.

I am urging the Supreme Court to make the right decision and I am praying for those justices to save the lives of the unborn.

Editor's note: Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard nearly two hours of arguments in the legal battle involving the Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which directly conflicts with the high court's past decisions on abortion. In the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban abortion before fetal viability — the point at which the fetus can survive outside of the womb, which is now considered to be between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. A ruling in this case will impact the current Texas Heartbeat Bill and, should the Supreme Court not set aside the Mississippi Law, will likely change the dynamics of the current push to make San Angelo an sanctuary city for the unborn.