For over forty-five years, Christians have prayed for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. A recent case decided by the Alabama Supreme Court may be the means to finding it unconstitutional.
Jessie Phillips v. State of Alabama established that Phillips “was convicted in the Marshall Circuit Court of the capital offense of murder of ‘two or more persons’ for the intentional killing of his wife, Erica Phillips, and their unborn child, ‘Baby Doe.’”
Unanimous Ruling for Legal Personhood
On October 19, the court unanimously found “the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons” in upholding “The Brody Act.” Brody was the eight-month-old unborn son of Brandy Parker, who was shot to death near her home. The twenty-three-year-old pregnant mother died along with her son on July 27, 2005. Less than a year later, the Alabama governor signed legislation to criminalize an attack on “an unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.”
Justice Tom Parker wrote a “special concurring opinion” that affirmed the court’s unified opinion: “A person is a person, regardless of age, physical development, or location. Baby Doe had just as much a right to life as did Erica Phillips. Phillips was sentenced to death for the murder of two persons; Erica and Baby Doe were equally persons.”
His opinion went on to call out the fatal flaw in Roe v. Wade—that it denies the personhood of an unborn child. “In Roe, the United States Supreme Court specifically stated that, if unborn children are persons, then they have the right to life. The Roe Court concluded that unborn children are not persons; this is the main foundation of the Roe exception.”
A Call for Justice
In light of the sixty million unborn children who have been aborted since Roe v. Wade, Justice Parker continued his scathing rebuke, “As demonstrated by the groundswell of state laws recognizing the personhood of unborn children, the foundation of the Roe exception is crumbling. In order for the outdated, isolated, and crumbling Roe exception to endure, liberal Justices must insist, against all scientific evidence and reason, that unborn children are not human. Judicial activism created the Roe exception; blind adherence to Roe's judicially imposed dogma allows it to linger.”
Justice Parker spoke for every pro-life American who has grieved the day in 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in a gross act of judicial activism, “It is my hope and prayer that the United States Supreme Court will take note of the crescendoing chorus of the laws of the states in which unborn children are given full legal protection and allow the states to recognize and defend the inalienable right to life possessed by every unborn child, even when that right must trump the ‘right’ of a woman to obtain an abortion.”
He summarized his opinion with a clear, passionate call to reverse Roe v. Wade, “We affirm once again that unborn children are persons with value and dignity equal to that of all persons. The Roe exception is the last remaining obstacle to the states' ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life. I urge the Supreme Court of the United States to reconsider the Roe exception and to overrule this constitutional aberration. Return the power to the states to fully protect the most vulnerable among us.”
As the National Center for Life and Liberty fights for life in the institutions of power, we’re always mindful of the battle for the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. As we speak truth in court cases, committee hearings, and in the media, our goal is to honor God by protecting His precious gift of life.
