Here is a link to a LifeNews story on the Supreme Court’s January 19, 2016 refusal to review a federal court of appeals decision holding unconstitutional the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act. The Arkansas law required abortionists to perform tests to determine whether the unborn child’s heart was beating and also prohibited abortions if a heartbeat was detected and if the fetus is 12 weeks or greater gestation.
The federal court of appeals decision (Edwards v. Beck, 786 F. 3d 1113 (8th Cir. 2015)) that the Court refused to review was notable because the judges, who considered themselves bound by Supreme Court precedent, explained the problems with the Supreme Court’s viability standard. The lower court further noted that the issues involved were better suited for the legislative, not the judicial, process.
The Arkansas law was a direct challenge to Roe and Casey, which effectively prevent states from prohibiting abortions at any point during pregnancy.
Supreme Court Blocks Arkansas Law Banning Abortions After Baby’s Heart Starts Beating
Richard Myers
Richard S. Myers, the Vice-President of UFL, is Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law, where he teaches Antitrust, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, and Religious Freedom. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Kenyon College and earned his law degree at Notre Dame, where he won the law school's highest academic prize. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge John F. Kilkenny of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Myers also worked for Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. He taught at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law before joining the Ave Maria faculty. He is a co-editor of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition: Contemporary Perspectives (Catholic University of American Press, 2004) and a co-editor of Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy (Scarecrow Press, 2007). He has also published extensively on constitutional law in law reviews and also testified before Congressional and state legislative hearings on life issues.
Married to Mollie Murphy, who is also on the faculty at Ave Maria School of Law, they are the proud parents of six children - Michael, Patrick, Clare, Kathleen, Matthew, and Andrew. http://www.avemarialaw.edu/index.cfm?event=faculty.bio&pid=11705E7D4E0111010366
