PLLDF Files Amicus to SCOTUS Seeking Certiorari to Uphold Indiana’s Anti-Eugenics Law

PLLDF joined with the Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, and others, to obtain SCOTUS certiorari review of a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana & Kentucky, Inc., 2019 U.S. S. Ct. Brief LEXIS 366.

To see the brief, click here.

Dr. Kristina Box, in her capacity as Indiana State Health Commissioner, petitioned SCOTUS to review the Seventh Circuit’s decision which holds unconstitutional certain provisions of an Indiana statute prohibiting abortions solely motivated by the sex, race, or physical or mental disability of the fetus.

Our brief (1) advocates in support of Indiana’s pro-life law which was enacted to repudiate the state’s own historic policy of embracing eugenics, and (2) points out that this case provides SCOTUS an opportunity to reject its own deeply flawed defense of policies grounded in eugenics.

The Indiana General Assembly’s apology for its record of eugenics contained a reference to Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927), a case allowing forced sterilization of those determined to be “feeble minded.” Remember that it was Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. whose majority opinion in Buck stated that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.” SCOTUS has never overruled its disgraceful ruling in that case. This case gives it the opportunity to do so!

Our brief also illustrates how, since the 45 years since Roe v. Wade, three critical aspects of scientific and technological advancements have established the personhood of an embryo. This is particularly significant in our culture, where abortions are being sought not because parents do not want to have a child— but because they do not to have a particular kind of child.

To see the brief, click here.

———————————————————————————————————

If you like what PLLDF’s volunteer attorneys and supporters are doing, please consider contributing to our work in defense of life.

Online donations may be made by clicking here. Alternatively, you may also send a check made payable to “PLLDF” to: “PLLDF, 1150 Walnut St., Newton, MA 02461.”

PLLDF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization and that all donations to PLLDF are tax-deductible.


Posted

in

by

Tags: