Fitch writes reply brief in SCOTUS case

Attorney General Lynn Fitch Wednesday filed a reply brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, underscoring the need to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and return abortion policymaking to the people.

“Finally forced to defend those cases, respondents drive home the stark reality: Roe and Casey are indefensible,” Fitch wrote in the reply. “Respondents do not claim that constitutional text or structure establishes a right to abortion. And they do not seriously argue that Roe and Casey are correct as an original matter. Their defense of Casey is to repeat its reasoning.”

In the reply brief, Fitch argues that policymaking should be returned to the states.

“Not treating abortion as a fundamental right treats it as the Constitution does most important issues: for the people to decide,” wrote Fitch. “When this Court returns this issue to the people, the people can debate, adapt, and find workable solutions. It will be hard for the people too, but under the Constitution the task is theirs—and the Court should return it to them now.” Fitch also argues that decades of progress in policy, society, and science further underscore the need to overturn Roe and return policy making to legislative bodies that can respond to these advancements.

Respondents “do not dispute (for example) that more women than men now enroll in law school and medical school, that women’s college enrollment has continued to climb, or that record numbers of women serve in state legislatures and Congress. Nor do respondents contest that laws enacted since Roe facilitate the ability of women to pursue both career success and a rich family life,” wrote Fitch.

Fitch continues in her brief, stating that Respondents’ claim “boils down to the view that millions of women have a meaningful life only because 50 years ago seven men in Roe saved them from despair—and that women’s success comes at the cost of ending innumerable human lives. That is the debased view that Roe and Casey have produced. It is time to get rid of them.”

In July, nearly 80 amicus briefs were filed by legal experts, feminist scholars, medical providers, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who provided compelling arguments for why the Court should return abortion policymaking to the political branches.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Dec. 1.

DeSoto County News Service – Press Release