St. Louis, MO: On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for a convicted rapist and murderer in Tennessee. One Obama-appointee denied the stay – Justice Elena Kagan. But the other, Justice Sonya Sotomayor, dissented against the denial, and in doing so acknowledged a key pro-life argument.
Her dissent read in part: "In refusing to grant Irick a stay, the Court today turns a blind eye to a proven likelihood that the state of Tennessee is on the verge of inflicting several minutes of torturous pain on an inmate…. If the law permits this execution to go forward in spite of the horrific final minutes that Irick may well experience, then we stopped being a civilized nation and accepted barbarism."
President of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles Ed Martin said in response, "Justice Sotomayor has made an excellent point in defense of the lives of unborn children. It is now a medically proven fact that unborn children in the womb feel pain as early as 20 weeks gestation. This is the core of the ‘Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act’ in Congress. We are glad Justice Sotomayor seems to understand this medical argument now. If she is willing to stay punishment on a convicted, violent criminal, how much more deserving are the innocent and defenseless?
"Does this indicate that Sotomayor will now support Pain-Capable legislation? Perhaps pro-life groups advocating for this bill should include her recognition of their argument. Another Supreme Court Justice acknowledging the cruel facts about abortion, now, frankly, has no excuse to not understand and support this pro-life argument. Will Justice Sotomayor be intellectually honest or will she bow to liberal, feminist ideology?"
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