North Dakota Appeals to US Supreme Court on Behalf of Tiny Heartbeats

Fr. Mark Hodges : Nov 24, 2015
LifeSiteNews.com

If upheld, it would be the most pro-life bill in the country.

(Bismarck, ND)—North Dakota has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its pro-life heartbeat bill. (Photo: Shutterstock/via LifeSiteNews)

As LifeSiteNews reported, officials were likely to appeal in defense of the bill, which was passed in 2013 and signed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple. The Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state over the law, and in April 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland declared the law unconstitutional and permanently blocked it. The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Hovland's block in July.

Now, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

North Dakota's heartbeat bill would prohibit killing a baby in the womb whose heartbeat can be detected. If upheld, it would be the most pro-life bill in the country.

Attorney General Stenehjem said the state's appeal was "a long shot."

This is precisely the scenario that has split the pro-life movement in Ohio. Governor John Kasich and Ohio legislators like State Sen. Keith Faber have opposed an Ohio heartbeat bill, despite claiming to be pro-life, because they fear that a Supreme Court challenge would give the country's highest justices an opportunity to...

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