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In a speech before the National Press Club Tuesday, Iowa Governor and potential Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack sid he would favor tighter restrictions on abortion similar to those recently passed in South Dakota.
The Des Moines Register has more:
| Schiedler vs. NOW, et al___________
Opinion: Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., et al. Arguments: Scheidler, Joseph, et al. v. National Organization for Women, Inc., et al. (PDF) Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (2003 Arguments and Opinion) |
The U.S. Supreme Court this in Schiedler vs. National Organization for Women, et al, week ruled that abortion clinics cannot use federal laws against racketerring and extortion to stop demonstrations.
The New York Times has more:
The opinion by Justice Stephen G. Breyer turned on two words. The justices ruled that clinics could not use the decades-old Hobbs Act, which outlaws the obstruction of commerce by “robbery or extortion,” to stymie protesters.
“Physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside the Hobbs Act’s scope,” Justice Breyer wrote. To try to use the act as the National Organization for Women and other abortion-rights advocates have done “broadens the Hobbs Act’s scope well beyond what case law has assumed,” he wrote.
Moreover, the ruling noted, Congress specifically addressed the needs of abortion clinics and their patients in 1994, when it passed legislation that makes it a federal crime to attack or blockade abortion clinics, their operators or their patrons. By its actions in 1994, Congress suggested that the much older Hobbs act did not address anti-abortion protests, Justice Breyer wrote.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. did not take part in today’s ruling. He took his seat on the court after the case, Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, No. 04-1244, was argued last Nov. 30.
The Wisconsin-based Women’s Medical Fund is calling for a boycott of South Dakota tourism if Governor Mike Rounds signs a bill banning most abortions.
KELO-TV has more:
Attorney General Mike Cox filed a brief Monday backing his appeal of a ruling that declared a Michigan abortion law unconstitutional.
MILive has more:
In spite of the GOP-led Texas Legislature’s consistent opposition to abortion, some of the most ardent abortion foes in the Lege say that the state isn’t ready to take things as far as South Dakota has done.
The Houston Chronicle has more:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Stenberg said he is pleased the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider the 2000 partial-birth abortion case that bears his name from his time as Nebraska Attorney General.
Prior to Stenberg v. Carhart, 20 states, including Nebraska, had outlawed the practice of partial birth abortions.
The Columbus Telegram has more:
Two bills that would restrict—or at least impose increased conditions on—abortions in Utah have strong public support, according to the results of a poll by media outlets in the state.
The Deseret Morning News has more:
The Oklahoma House Thursday passed two bills that anti-choice advocated say will reduce the number of abortions in the state.
KETN has more:
Missouri is considering a measure to drop the teaching of sex-ed from schools. Via Bush v. Choice.
In an apparrent attempt to back away from what has become a subject of national controversy, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds, a strong opponent of abortion, said Thursday his decision to sign the bill would be determined by its details; Friday, Rounds said he was “inclined” to sign the bill but reiterated that the bill must be without “technical defects.”
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Catholic objections to an abortion-rights group’s participation in the Morristown St. Patrick’s Day parade have touched off a debate about whether the parade is a religious event and who should be allowed to take part.
A day after the South Dakota Legislature adopted the toughest abortion regulations in the nation, the State Senate failed to approve a bill that would have placed much tougher informational requirements on abortion doctors in the state.
The measure failed 15-17.
HB1198 would have required doctors who perform abortions to screen women for individual risk factors, said Sen. Brock Greenfield (R-Clark), who is executive director of South Dakota Right to Life. It would place no additional burden on women considering abortions, but they would get more information before making those decisions, he told AP.
The Supreme Court has agreed to review a law passed by Congress in 2003 that prohibits a procedure that opponents refer to as partial birth abortion.
Two federal appeals courts on opposite coasts Tuesday declared Congress’ ban on a controversial late-term abortion procedure unconstitutional — making it a virtual certainty that newly confirmed Justice Samuel A. Alito will have the opportunity to rule on the issue in the future.
The LA Times:
From their press release:
Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, called the passage by both houses of South Dakota’s legislature of a criminal ban on abortion throughout pregnancy a monumental setback for women.
Kansas State Rep. Brenda Landwehr (R-Whichita), a vocal opponent of abortion, admitted to House members Wednesday that she had had an abortion during debate on a bill.
A Virginia State Senate Committee today rejected a House bill that would require abortion clinics to meet some of the standards of ambulatory surgical centers.
South Dakota lawmakers Wednesday approved the most restrictive abortion law of any in the nation and likely set the stage for new legal challenges the law’s supporters hope will lead to an overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee Wednesday ripped some controversial language from two abortion bills before passing the legislation out of committee without dissent.
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