Appeals Court Will Hear Pro-Life Case to Overturn Roe Abortion Decision

New Orleans, LA (LifeNews.com) -- The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has announced that it will hear oral arguments in Norma McCorvey's attempt to overturn the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that overturned pro-life laws across the country banning abortion.

McCorvey's case is on appeal after a federal judge dismissed it only days after the case was filed. Attorneys for McCorvey, the former Roe, filed a motion appealing the judge's determination that case could not be reopened because too much time had elapsed since the original decision.

"We are excited about this historic opportunity to reverse Roe v. Wade," lead attorney Allan Parker told LifeNews.com.

"The Dallas federal judge denied Norma McCorvey’s motion after only two days without adequately considering the 5,347 pages of affidavits from over one thousand women harmed by abortion and scientific experts," Parker explained.

The appeals court hears oral arguments in less than ten percent of the cases filed, and Parker said their decision is "quite a breakthrough." Parker is the founder of the Justice Foundation, a pro-life law firm that is assisting McCorvey in the case.

"I deeply regret the damage my original case caused women," McCorvey said. "I want the Supreme Court to examine the evidence and have a spirit of justice for women and children."

McCorvey's attorneys will be the only ones to present oral arguments as the state of Texas and the Dallas district attorney's office chose not to file briefs in response to the appeal.

Her lawsuit relies on a Rule 60 motion that original parties to a lawsuit can use to overturn a prior decision, so long as their is new information pertinent to the case.

McCorvey's attorneys submitted thousands of signed affidavits from women who have been hurt abortion as evidence and reason for the court to reconsider the Roe decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed its own precedents using Rule 60(b)(5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 60), most recently in the 1997 decision of Agostini v. Felton. There, the court overturned a 12 year-old precedent. Parker says the high court has overturned precedents as long as 41 years-old, longer than the length of time since Roe.

The appeals court could decide to overturn Roe, dismiss the appeal, or send the case back to the district court for a complete trial. The federal court will also consider whether a single judge should have decided the case of if a three-judge panel should have presided.

Parker said the case will likely proceed to the Supreme Court. However, once there, pro-life advocates worry the Supreme Court's pro-abortion majority will decline to hear it or rule against McCorvey. Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt said her group doesn't view the case as a threat to the Roe decision for the same reason.

A decision by the federal appeals court in the McCorvey case is expected in early March.

The Justice Foundation has filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of Sandra Cano, the Doe in the Doe v. Bolton companion case to Roe.

As the companion case to Roe v. Wade, the Doe decision saw the high court define "health" to include "all factors -- physical emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age" that may prompt someone who have an abortion. Pro-life groups have since opposed health exceptions in any pro-life legislation because it would essentially all for all abortions to remain legal.

Related web sites: Justice Foundation (Operation Outcry) - http://www.operationoutcry.org United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit - http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov

The following is an e-mail from Allan E. Parker, Jr., CEO & Founder of The Justice Foundation.

PRAISE REPORT AFTER 21 DAYS OF PRAYER & FASTING

To those who joined in our call for 21 days of prayer & fasting to Reverse Roe and Doe from January 1st to January 21st - thanks and Praise to the Lord Jesus Christ!

On January 1st, 2004, we issued a call for 21 days of prayer and fasting to overturn Roe and Doe, for revival of justice and righteousness in America, and breakthroughs at the U.S. Supreme Court and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The following groups are known to have participated in the call (others may have enjoined in as well without notifying us): The Justice Foundation and Operation Outcry: Silent No More, Celebrate Grace, Christian Legal Society, Men for Nations, Outpouring Ministries, Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund, Justice at the Gate, and Ark Revival Ministries.

On January 20, 2004, we received official notice from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that the Court will hear oral argument on Tuesday, March 2, 2004, on Norma McCorvey's Rule 60 Motion to overturn Roe v. Wade. This is quite a breakthrough! First, only approximately ten percent of the cases filed receive oral argument. Second, Norma McCorvey's attorneys will be the only attorneys arguing in the case. There is no opposition from the State of Texas or the District Attorney and they have chosen not to file a brief.

There are several issues before the Court:

Whether Roe v. Wade should be overturned;

whether to sustain the Motion based on the evidence that was submitted with the Motion;

whether to send the case back to a trial court for a trial;

or,

whether a single judge or a three-judge panel should have heard the case at the trial court level.

Please continue to pray for a spirit of justice for the judges, for God's perfect timing, the demonstration of God's mighty power, and that the covenant with death will be annulled, the agreement with the grave will not stand. See Isaiah 28:14-22.

Allan E. Parker, Jr. CEO & Founder The Justice Foundation

From WorldNetDaily.com:

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Court to hear 'Roe's' challenge to '73 ruling
Panel will consider motion to reverse landmark abortion decision

Posted: February 15, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

In a move hailed as a breakthrough by abortion opponents, a federal appeals court agreed to hear oral arguments in an attempt by the original plaintiff in Roe vs. Wade to overturn the landmark decision.

Norma McCorvey

Norma McCorvey – "Jane Roe" in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case – wants to reopen the case that struck down all state laws restricting abortion, based on changes in law and new scientific research that make the prior decision "no longer just."

As WorldNet Daily reported, a district court ruled it was too late for McCorvey to reopen the case.

"Whether or not the Supreme Court was infallible, its Roe decision was certainly final in this litigation," Dallas Judge David Godbey wrote in the ruling. "It is simply too late now, thirty years after the fact, for McCorvey to revisit that judgment."

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has agreed to hear oral arguments March 2.

The Dallas-based Justice Foundation, which is assisting McCorvey, is asking organizations and individuals to participate in 21 days of prayer and fasting for the case, beginning this past Thursday.

The group said Sandra Cano, plaintiff in the Doe vs. Bolton companion case, has requested that case be overturned as well.

Allan Parker, CEO of the Justice Foundation, said the court's decision to hear oral arguments is "quite a breakthrough," since only about 10 percent of cases filed receive oral arguments and the state of Texas is not opposing the case.

McCorvey's attorneys will be the only attorneys arguing, since neither the state nor the district attorney have filed briefs in the case.

"There are several issues before the court," Parker said, "whether Roe versus Wade should be overturned; whether to grant the motion based on the evidence that was submitted with the motion; or send the case back to a trial court for a trial; and whether a single judge or a three-judge panel should have heard the case at the trial court level."

Last June, Parker contended Judge Godbey misunderstood the motion, arguing the case is about changes in the relevant factual conditions, not a submission of new evidence.

One of the most relevant changes in law, he says, is the 1999 "Baby Moses" statute which allows a mother to hand over her child to the care of the state, meaning she no longer is forced to dispose of "unwanted" children by ending a human life.

Texas is among 40 states with such legislation, which didn't exist in 1973, Parker notes.

Among McCorvey's 5,437 pages of evidence are affidavits from more than 1,000 women who testify having an abortion has had devastating emotional, physical and psychological effects.

"It's a shame that the courts are unwilling to listen to women's testimonies about what abortion does to women," he said.

Parker also contended Godbey made an error in his determination of what is a reasonable time within which to reopen a case.

Godbey said court opinions are measured in terms of weeks or months, not in decades.

But Parker points to the 1997 Agostini v. Felton decision in which the high court used a post-judgment motion by a party to overturn two 12-year-old precedents.

McCorvey announced in 1995 she had become a Christian and later launched a pro-life ministry called Roe No More. She told WorldNetDaily two years ago she was "used" by abortion-rights attorneys in their quest to legalize the procedure.

One of her attorneys in the 1973 case, Sarah Weddington, expressed delight but not surprise at Godbey's decision last June.

"It never should have been filed," Weddington told the AP at the time. "Those who filed it got publicity but the publicity actually has been very helpful for those of us who believe the government should not be involved."

After announcement of the motion, she received about two dozen offers to help defend the Roe vs. Wade decision.

In his plea issued this week, Parker said, "Please continue to pray that the Lord's will be done, for a spirit of justice for the judges, for God's perfect timing, the demonstration of God's mighty power, and that the covenant with death be annulled, the agreement with the grave will not stand."

Previous stories:

Court says 'too late' to reopen 'Roe'

'Roe' sues to overturn Roe v. Wade decision

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