Supreme News Roundup: From the Left

Congratulations on surviving the midterm elections! But wait a sec - we're not done with the big news yet. Today is critical for reproductive health. With the news circus leading up to yesterday's elections, today's Supreme Court case on the federal abortion ban hasn't garnered much press. Ian wondered where the "pro-life" lobby has been, but it turns out that the pro-choice lobby hasn't been very vocal on this issue either (as of Tuesday afternoon). Let's take a quick look at news from our side of this important case.

Congratulations on surviving the midterm elections!

But wait a sec – we're not done with the big news yet. Today is critical for reproductive health. With the news circus leading up to yesterday's elections, today's Supreme Court case on the federal abortion ban hasn't garnered much press. Ian wondered where the "pro-life" lobby has been (they showed up yesterday, finally), but the pro-choice lobby has been vocal on this issue all along, and is becoming more so. Let's take a quick look at news from our side of this important case.

The Center for Reproductive Rights features Nancy Northup's guest blog for Rewire; they also have a terrific website where you can learn more about their case, Gonzales v. Carhart. Planned Parenthood Federation of America has the other case challenging the ban, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood. They have a featured article with eight women's personal stories, as well as a podcast coming out later this afternoon.

The two groups above are also part of a coalition site which provides comprehensive information on the federal abortion ban, cosponsored by the ACLU, National Abortion Federation (NAF), and Planned Parenthood Golden Gate. NAF provides information about the cases on their website and their blog, as well as the ACLU.

The Well-Timed Period has a Rewire-worthy post about the rants of conservative ideologues versus the logic of doctors regarding late-term abortion. SCOTUS blog has an in-depth examination of the cases and their history, with a good look at the different factors involved – especially the make-up of the court. Page Rockwell at Salon's Broadsheet also wrote a great round-up of the overall picture yesterday.

Other allies with information on these cases: The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the National Organization for Women (which is organizing a demonstration outside the court this morning). Kaiser Network's Daily Women's Health report reported yesterday that Justice Kennedy is the target of several arguments in the briefs.

Stay tuned to Rewire for the latest on the federal abortion ban. We'll bring you PPFA's U.S. Supreme Court podcast later today, plus our first video blog with our footage from outside the Supreme Court.