IWKnights Corner for September 18, 2022 — 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time      

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus? 

The Knights of Columbus held our 140th Supreme Convention early in August in Nashville TN.  We continue with a review of the Order’s annual resolutions.  The following resolution is entitled: HAILING THE U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION - IN DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORG.   However, space limitations preclude publishing the entire document so see below for the links to view the full article:

WHEREAS, on January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Roe v. Wade, establishing a purported constitutional right to abortion in the United States through specious legal reasoning and incomplete historical analysis thereby leading to a half century of litigation over the issue of abortion all while more than 60 million lives were lost; and

WHEREAS, in 1992, the Supreme Court revisited this decision in the case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and issued a decision in June of that year which upheld the “essential holding of Roe” that abortion was a constitutional right, but essentially rejected much of Roe’s legal reasoning instead establishing the standard that abortion laws were permitted before the age of viability as long as they did not impose an “undue burden” on the right to obtain an abortion; and

WHEREAS, for 30 years, litigation over the so-called “undue burden standard” flooded the U.S. Federal Court system resulting in multiple divergent rulings by federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court itself; and

WHEREAS, in 2018 the State of Mississippi enacted the Gestational Age Act which limited abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, resulting in a lawsuit filed against Thomas E. Dobbs, a state health official, by the abortion provider Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was eventually appealed to the Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, on December 1, 2021, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case during which the State of Mississippi argued that the only way to declare its law constitutional was to overturn both Roe and Casey—a legal point even conceded in oral arguments by the law’s opponents which included the Solicitor General of the United States; and

WHEREAS, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs authored by Justice Samuel Alito and stating:

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.’ The right to abortion does not fall within this category; and”

WHEREAS, the Court cited numerous legal reasons for overturning both Roe and Casey calling them “egregiously wrong” and “on a collision course with the Constitution” since they were decided and highlighting that they established a jurisprudence around abortion that was clearly unmanageable and that had led to deleterious effects on other areas of federal law; and

WHEREAS, with Roe and Casey relegated to the ash heap of history with other egregiously wrong decisions like Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld Mississippi’s law declaring that legislatures are free to enact laws related to abortion—either permitting or limiting the practice— as they deem are rational and necessary; and

WHEREAS, on the day of the decision, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, and the Chairman of its Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, issued a statement saying, “This is a historic day in the life of our country, one that stirs our thoughts, emotions and prayers. For nearly fifty years, America has enforced an unjust law that has permitted some to decide whether others can live or die; this policy has resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of preborn children, generations that were denied the right to even be born….We thank God today that the Court has now overturned this decision. We pray that our elected officials will now enact laws and policies that promote and protect the most vulnerable among us;” and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly issued a statement proclaiming “the dignity of every human life” that expressed the spirit of gratefulness and hope felt by all 2 million Knights of Columbus families and noting, “The Supreme Court’s decision rightly offers correction to a deeply flawed set of previous decisions and makes clear that neither the Constitution nor our nation’s history provide a fundamental right to procure an abortion;” and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus and its members have labored for the past 50 years to right the wrongs perpetrated by Roe and its progeny, including: the countless brother Knights and families who have advocated, marched, prayed, and volunteered in support of the pro-life cause; elected officials at every level who have advanced pro-life policies, most notably the late U.S. Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois who first introduced the provisions which prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion and that have saved more than two million lives since their inception; and leaders of the Knights of Columbus including Past Supreme Knight John McDevitt who first marshaled Knights following the decision in Roe v. Wade by calling on all councils to take action to “offset the harmful effects of this lamentable decision,” Past Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant who significantly expanded the Order’s support for the pro-life cause, and Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson who dedicated not only his administration to advancing the pro-life cause, but also the entirety of his professional career from service as a young lawyer crafting and defending provisions like the Hyde and Helms amendments to service in the White House of President Ronald Reagan where he ensured that the cries of the unborn were heard in the halls of power and at the highest levels of government; and

WHEREAS, the Order has supported the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., since its inception when brother Knights joined Nellie Gray at her kitchen table to plan the event which has grown to become the largest human rights demonstration in the world, and which serves as the model for similar marches in cities around the globe—many of which are supported by local Knights; and . . . .

     The above column originally appeared on the KofC.org web site.  You can find more information about the IW Knights on IWKnights9981.com/bulletin on facebook.com/IWknights9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights or by contacting Rob Schultz at (314) 973-2373.

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