The 3 - November 27, 2022

In this week's edition of The 3, featuring three recent relevant stories for the Christian community, there is an update from a story last week involving a judge in Georgia who had placed the state's pro-life "heartbeat" law on hold - the state Supreme Court said that the law could continue to be enforced while an appeal by the state's attorney general is being heard.  Also, another state supreme court, the Alabama Supreme Court, became involved in a free speech case, ruling that a lawsuit against a university in the state over its on-campus speech policies can continue.  Plus, the Food and Drug Administration is facing legal action over its loosening of policies involving chemical abortions.

GA Supreme Court reinstates ban on abortions after heartbeat is detected

Last week, I reported that a county judge in Georgia struck down the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor that would ban abortion when the heartbeat of a pre-born child is detected. The bill was passed prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which was the rationale behind the judge's decision, who struck the law down because it was passed prior to that Supreme Court decision.

But, the Georgia Supreme Court had a different idea and put the Fulton County judge's ruling on hold, according to WSB Television, which said:

The Georgia Supreme Court has overturned the stay on Georgia’s heartbeat abortion law, effectively making abortions after six weeks illegal again in the state.

In a one-page order, the high court put a lower court ruling overturning the ban on hold while it considers an appeal. Abortion providers who had resumed performing the procedure past six weeks after the lower court ruling will again have to stop.

The article on the TV station's website said:

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr filed an immediate appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court. Carr’s office also asked the high court for an order putting the decision on hold while the appeal was pending.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted an emergency stay of the lower’s court’s ruling, which allowed the heartbeat abortion law to go into effect again as the state’s appeals continue. The Supreme Court did not give an explanation about why it granted the stay.

Free speech ruling from AL Supreme Court allows student's legal action to continue

There was a positive outcome by the Alabama Supreme Court involving a student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a member of a campus organization, who had challenged a speech policy at the school. According to the website of Alliance Defending Freedom:

Student members of Young Americans for Liberty want to engage their peers in important policy debates about a variety of issues including gun control, federalism, and other topics, but are refraining from doing so for fear of violating the university’s burdensome speech policy. The policy requires students to share their views on certain topics in specified speech zones and request approval to speak days in advance. And because the permits are subject to the university’s approval, administrators can pick and choose which events and viewpoints are allowed on campus.

ADF claims, "Alabama’s Campus Free Speech Act requires public colleges and universities to respect the free speech rights of students on campus and explicitly prohibits speech zones, prior permission requirements, and other speech-suppressive measures."  It argued that the UAH policy violated Alabama law.

The state's highest court agreed.  The ADF website reported that, "The Alabama Supreme Court ruled unanimously...to allow a free speech lawsuit to proceed by a Young Americans for Liberty chapter and student-member Joshua Greer..." ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch is quoted as saying, “College students have the freedom to share their beliefs anywhere on campus; they don’t need permission from college officials to speak, nor should they have to jump through burdensome and illegal hoops just to talk with their classmates outside,” adding, “We’re pleased the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed the freedom of all college students to speak freely on campus without being restricted to small speech zones. The university never should have attempted to skirt the explicit provisions of state law that reinforce these rights."

FDA sued over chemical abortion policy

It has been noted that chemical abortions or "mail-order abortions" have become one of the leading sources of abortion in the nation, and this was set off by the Food and Drug Administration loosening restrictions on the distribution of the two-pill regimen that is used to terminate a pregnancy.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute issued a press release applauding a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defending Freedom challenging the FDA's policy-making.  It linked to the court filing, indicating a number of organizations and individuals who are plaintiffs in the suit, including the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians, and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.

The press release stated:

Charlotte Lozier Institute, which in 2021 revealed a dramatic surge in abortion pill-related emergency room visits, today applauded Alliance Defending Freedom for challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) erroneous and highly-politicized approval of the abortion drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol, which redefined pregnancy as an “illness.”

It quoted from Dr. James Studnicki, who serves as vice president of data analytics for the Lozier Institute, who has been the "lead author" of "abortion pill studies;" he stated: “The safety of chemical abortion is greatly exaggerated. In fact, the increasing dominance of chemical abortion and its disproportionate contribution to emergency room morbidity is a serious public health threat, and the real-world data suggests that threat is growing."