The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley

overturned any other way, the states will regain the ability to decide the abortion issue, one by one.”
    â€œI reiterate. I don’t give a damn!”
    He glared and kept talking. “Okay, fine, but if the court gives you guardianship, it will have larger implications. Even if the judge decides against us, we can appeal it. Which will buy time. And if it fails in appeal, we can go all the way up. We can ask for a writ of certiorari.”
    â€œA what?”
    â€œA writ of certiorari, a cert petition. It means we’re asking the Supreme Court to review a lower-court decision. If the Court gives you guardianship, the United States government would, in essence, grant a fetus personhood, then all fetuses would have rights as persons. And any action that destroys a fetus would be considered a murder. Abortion would be outlawed everywhere .”
    â€œThat’s a hell of a stretch, and all I want is to give this baby a chance,” I said.
    â€œDo you remember the Scott Peterson case?”
    â€œWhat the hell does any of this have to do with Elle?”
    â€œBear with me. Do you remember it?”
    I leaned back in the chair and glared at Jake. He was like this. He’d go off on something, and in school I’d walk out of the dorm room, but I didn’t have that luxury now. “Peterson? The bastard who killed his pregnant wife? Sure,” I said.
    â€œHe was convicted of killing both his wife and his unborn son. Afterward, Congress passed the Unborn Victims of Violent Crimes Act. It was a huge step forward because it protected the unborn. The authors of the bill were Pro-Life. Unofficially it’s called Laci and Connor’s Law.”
    â€œOh, for Christ’s sake. Dump the minutiae and get to the point.”
    â€œI am. That law protects the unborn, and it gives us a legal leg.”
    I grunted something innocuous, but equating what was happening to Elle in any way with the Scott Peterson case pissed me off. I wanted to stop this circus before the roustabouts started putting up the big top.
    â€œIf we go for guardianship of the baby, we will get Pro-Life backing—”
    â€œAnd if you try to make this about abortion, you’ll bring down the opposition of the National Organization of Women, who are probably just as radical as the right-to-lifers. You’re going to turn this into a circus.” My mother was a member of NOW. She was, for the most part, a reasonable person, interested in furthering opportunities for women, but there were a couple of hotheads in her chapter, ones who would, given the opportunity, boil abortion-clinic protesters in oil.
    Jake sat there resolute, sneering at my mention of NOW. “The Pro-Life movement is a humanitarian effort,” he said. “But let’s not debate that one. There’s more. Using guardianship is a risky tack. Here’s why. There’ve only been two cases.
    â€œThe first one in Florida involved all the hot-button issues: a mentally disabled woman and a rape. The State tried to gain guardianship of the unborn baby. Long story short, the appellate court denied appointing the State guardian on two grounds: one, the State had no standing, which is why I wanted you to assure me Elle’s baby is yours, and two, the Florida courts have no statutes, no laws on the books, to give a fetus a guardian.”
    â€œSo the woman had an abortion?” I asked.
    â€œActually, no. The case stalled long enough for the baby to be born. And I’m willing to use the same tactic. I’m a principled man, a man who goes to church on Sunday, a man who holds my faith as my priority, but I’m also a realist, Matt. The State didn’t win the battle, but they won the war. The baby lived—” He held up his finger. “One baby, and I’ll take saving your baby. But the larger issue here is that a ruling that gives you guardianship could save more than a million children every year. I’m very