Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas pro-life group is heading up a new petition effort to persuade the Supreme Court reverse itself in the Roe v. Wade case that allowed unlimited abortions. Kansas Coalition for Life chairman Mark Gietzen says the petition is a unique opportunity for pro-life advocates to make a stand.

In 1973, the high court decided that laws of states across the country protecting unborn children by prohibiting abortion should be overturned.

"These laws were not given to us through a legislative process, and the citizens of this country were not given an opportunity to petition their legislators before these laws went into effect," Gietzen said.

In an effort to change this injustice, Gietzen's group requested that the Supreme Court officially accept his petition.

After months of phone calls, red tape and repeatedly hearing the high court wouldn't accept the petition, Gietzen pressed on.

Eventually, Gietzen contacted the clerks who work directly for Chief Justice John Roberts, a Bush-appointed judge whom pro-life advocates hope will be one of the eventual five needed to overturn Roe.

Gietzen’s persistence finally paid off and, in January, the Supreme Court agreed to officially accept the petition.

"This is a tremendous victory," Gietzen told LifeNews.com. "At no other time in history has the Supreme Court officially accepted a petition that was not affiliated with a specific case that was being considered by the Court."

"Finally, every citizen has a means to petition the actual lawmakers, as they should have had since 1973," he said.

Gietzen says most pro-life Americans aren't aware of how sensitive the Supreme Court is to public opinion.

He ultimately hopes the petitions will convince Justice Anthony Kennedy to follow on his ruling upholding the partial-birth abortion ban and change his opinion on Roe itself.

"The entire abortion question in America is in the hands of one un-elected, undecided individual named Justice Kennedy," he said. "Kennedy, the 'swing vote' on the Court holds the key to all abortion law in America, and by our global influence, the entire world," he concluded.

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