Teallaura's Baby Blog

The shot across the bow occurred Friday when the Alabama Supreme Court found for the Plaintiff in Hamilton v Scott. The lower courts had rule that the plaintiff could not sue because the child she lost in utero was not viable at the time of its death. The viability standard - as stupid as ever - comes straight out of Roe v Wade. The Alabama Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling in part, namely the finding that viability mattered. Justice Parker, speaking for the court, wrote, "Roe's viability rule was based on inaccurate history and was mostly unsupported by legal precedent. Medical advances since Roe have conclusively demonstrated that an unborn child is a unique human being at every stage of development."

This is huge. The viability rule is one of the central pillars of Roe. It’s the basis for the whole trimester versus state interest platform - that’s the reason states can’t just act on their own accord. In Roe, the Court finds that the individual state’s interest in protecting its unborn citizenry varies as viability varies (hence the first trimester the states have little power to regulate but the last trimester is fair game). No viability rule, no limitation on the state’s power to protect the unborn - and as a practical matter, no real basis for continuing unrestricted abortion in any trimester.

So, will Hamilton be the case we teach in schools as finally ending Roe’s reign? Time will tell. But the fact that a state’s high court has rejected Roe at least in part means that the long, hard fought race is finally turning for home. Roe’s days are now officially numbered.


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