Federal Constitution

Supreme Court, which could issue a ruling recognizing fetal rights under the federal Constitution.

From a practical standpoint, that would be the silver bullet the anti-abortion movement has been searching for—a ruling that could be used to argue that any state law protecting abortion or IVF violates the federal Constitution.

On July 30, 1788, during debate in the North Carolina ratifying convention over whether the state would sign on to the proposed federal Constitution, pro-Constitution delegate James Iredell rose to confront what he considered a risible objection to the document brought by some of his colleagues.

With all of these constitutional problems, there is a good chance that a federal court is going to find that this attempt at election subversion by North Carolina courts violates the federal Constitution.

The plaintiffs may face steep odds because they rely on the federal Constitution, which means their case might eventually land before the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority.