ST. LOUIS — Abortionists do not have legal standing to represent the third-party interests of women seeking abortions. So say attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on behalf of the Family Research Council.
“Anyone truly concerned about the interests of women would support a woman having access to all the information necessary to make a fully informed decision,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “Instead, the abortionists argue adamantly to restrict the information women have about the lives of their pre-born babies.”
According to the brief ADF attorneys filed, women are capable of defending their own rights in court, and abortionists lack standing to raise the women’s claims in court. The brief further argues that because an abortionist stands to profit financially from a woman aborting her pre-born baby, a conflict of interest exists between pregnant women and abortionists.
A federal district court and a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit granted Planned Parenthood standing in the case and simultaneously struck down South Dakota’s informed consent law. The 8th Circuit is scheduled to rehear this case en banc on April 11.
“Someone who has a financial stake in performing abortions should not be allowed to represent women in a case challenging women’s right-to-know laws,” said Lorence. “Because an abortionist may earn a profit from women who abort their pre-born children, Planned Parenthood should be disqualified from representing the interests of women.”
A copy of the friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday in
Planned Parenthood v. Rounds can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/RoundsAmicus.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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