WASHINGTON — On Friday, Louisiana Democratic state Sen. Katrina Jackson addressed the March for Life shortly after President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to do so. While the Republican president made history with his speech, the Democratic state senator made a historic prediction.
“This decade will mark the major fight for life,” she declared. “Because at this time, we’re about to turn the situation around.”
Speaking prophetically, Jackson added, “I see the bands and the chains dropping off of Roe v. Wade, I see people and babies being born everywhere, I see us celebrating life like never before.”
She was referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The March for Life commemorates the anniversary of Roe v. Wade with a humongous protest. Hundreds of thousands paraded to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to reverse their decision.
Roe — and later Supreme Court decisions upholding the supposed constitutional right to abortion — has stood for 47 years, but Jackson predicted that it wouldn’t make it to 57.
While this prediction is eye-catching, it is also rather reasonable. The Supreme Court has a majority of justices appointed by Republicans and seemingly espousing the philosophy of Originalism — supporting the original public meaning of the Constitution, which cannot be twisted to support a right to abortion.
Contrary to the protestations of many abortion activists, this would be a good development not just for babies and women but for the rule of law.
In fact, when the 14th Amendment — the part of the Constitution Roe twisted to support abortion — was passed, the states were passing restrictions on abortion. Not only does the 14th Amendment not include an explicit or implicit right to abortion, but the lawmakers who passed it would have vehemently disagreed with this ridiculous redefinition.
Jackson herself will be arguing before the Supreme Court this coming March, in the case June Medical Services v. Gee. This case, which centers on Louisiana’s law requiring that abortion clinics get admitting privileges at a hospital no less than 30 miles away, is the first major abortion case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed in 2018. More than 200 members of Congress — including two Democrats — filed a brief asking the Court to strike down its “unworkable” abortion precedents building on Roe v. Wade.
Pro-life lawyers have predicted that June Medical will not see the Court overturn Roe, but it may result in a monumental change nonetheless. The Supreme Court will likely have to wait for another case to fully reverse Roe v. Wade.
Jackson predicted that reversal, thanks in part to the kind of bipartisan pro-life activism already common in Louisiana.
“We hope one day, just like Louisiana, Congress will have Democrats and Republicans as we fight (for life),” she said, with the crowd chanting “for life.”
“It’s so important to let people know everywhere that the fight for life doesn’t have a partisan stance to it, but that we love babies. So every day that we get up we fight (for life), and every day that we pray we pray (for life), and every day that we talk to our friends and our families we fight (for life)! Because life is the most important thing,” Jackson declared.
“I tell people everywhere if you were born after 1973, after Roe v. Wade became law, someone chose you, right? And so because of that, because someone chose us, we fight (for life) and we will never stop,” the pro-life Democrat added. “And in March of this year, we will be at the United States Supreme Court and we will fight (for life) because it is the most important thing that we can ever fight for in our own lives.”
Jackson called Louisiana “the number one pro-life state” because the majority of Democrats elected state-wide are pro-life. “Every day that I walk into the state capital, I am greeted by pro-lifers — regardless if they’re black, white, Republican, Democrat, male or female, because we know that in unity we must fight (for life).”
Pro-life Black Democrat @SenatorKRJ’s powerful speech at the @March_for_Life. Her fellow Democrats should listen. #iStand4Life #MarchForLife pic.twitter.com/GXNVL763bu
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 24, 2020
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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