Roundup: Last One to The Supreme Court Is a Rotten Egg

It's a race to see who can get in front of the Supreme Court first. Plus, parallel realities in the mini roundup.

In case there were any doubts, the past few weeks seems to have settled it: anti-choice activists have one goal this year, and it’s to try and get in front of the Supreme Court.  Thanks to the legacy of President George W. Bush, the court is at perhaps its most conservative level ever, and the activists can’t wait to test it out.
 
Nowhere is this more obvious than in Nebraska, where anti-choice advocates are pushing hard to get what they know is a federally unconstitutional new law passed by the legislature.
 
[A]bortion opponents are looking for opportunities to push the court even further in restricting abortion.

“I
think National Right to Life wants to see something go to the Supreme
Court that would provide more protection to the unborn child,” said
Mary Spaulding Balch, a lobbyist for the organization.

A new Nebraska legislative proposal could provide that opportunity.

Legislative
Bill 1103 would ban abortions after 20 weeks unless the procedure would
save a woman’s life or “avert serious risk of substantial and
irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”

Speaker
of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk said he didn’t introduce the
bill with the goal of having it wind up before the Supreme Court.

Rather, he wants to stop Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue from becoming the region’s main provider of late-term abortions.

Opponents as well as supporters of abortion rights agree the proposal would go beyond what current high court rulings allow.

“This bill is unconstitutional as it’s drafted,” said Janet Crepps, of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

“Anybody
who supports the bill should be clear that this is just a vehicle for
them to go back to the Supreme Court and take rights away from women,”
she said.

 
But Nebraska may have to get in line, as Florida sees their overly restrictive unconstitutional potential law, and one ups it with an outright ban.
 
A legislator who has travelled the world as a Baptist minister wants
Florida to ban abortion — inviting a U.S. Supreme Court rematch over
law, morality and medicine.
Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, cites the state and federal
Constitutions, as well as the Declaration of Independence, in asserting
that all people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, and that the first among these rights is the right to life."
Nearly one-third of his "Florida for Life Act" is devoted to
legislative "findings," including statements that life begins at
conception and that the high court’s 1973 and 1992 rulings legalizing
abortion were wrong.

Stephanie Kunkel, state director of Planned Parenthood, called the
bill "totally unconstitutional." She said polls and experience in other
states show the public to be pro-choice, although the Republican-run
Legislature leans the other way to varying degrees.

"This
is the most rigid and inflexible ban on abortion in the United States,"
said Kunkel. "Not only does it ban abortion, it also has absolutely no
exceptions for rape or incest."

She said abortion
opponents tried a similar plan in South Dakota with a ballot initiative
that lost by 56-44 percent in 2006. Two years later, she said, another
abortion ban was voted down in that state.

"His ultimate
goal here is to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision, Roe v. Wade, by
passing an unconstitutional bill," she said. "This fight would have to
end up in the U.S. Supreme Court."

The conservative Roberts Court might reverse the Roe ruling, she said. That’s about the only thing Kunkel and Van Zant agree on. 

 
Ohio is also taking a swing at federal abortion laws,  although in their case it is seen as largely symbolic, rather than a potential Supreme Court challenge.
 
The Republican-majority Ohio Senate approved a resolution Feb. 17
urging federal officials to refrain from allowing public funding of
abortions or establishing national laws that usurp states’ regulation
of the procedure.
The resolution, passed on a party-line vote
with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing, is a preemptive
strike against the national Freedom of Choice Act — legislation that
has not been introduced in Congress this session.

Sens. Tim
Grendell (R-Chesterland) and Steve Buehrer (R-Delta) said the federal
act would create the right to an abortion and prevent states from
regulating abortion procedures.

The Senate resolution urges President Barack Obama and members of Congress to oppose the act, should it be introduced.

 
Still not every state has made it their sole mission to either challenge Roe V. Wade or current abortion rights.  Hawaii, instead, is going in the opposite direction.
 

The House of Representatives yesterday paved the
way for Hawaii to become the first state in the nation to repeal its
abortion law.


The repeal bill passed by a 31-20 vote and is expected to breeze through the Senate on Tuesday.

Every member voted on the measure.

Barring major defects in the bill, Gov. John A. Burns is expected to let the bill become law without his signature.

It will automatically become law 10 days after he receives it.

The Governor has stated in the past that he supports repeal.

Although the measure is laced with amendments, it still retains its basic intent—to repeal Hawaii’s 101-year-old abortion law.

"I am glad that it is all over," Rep. George W.T. Loo said.

"I feel this is something we all can live by, and I hope it is not abused."

Loo,
co-chairman of the joint conference committee that worked out the
compromise bill, originally brought the issue to legislative attention
several years ago.

The current law says a woman may get an abortion only when her life is in danger.

The bill would repeal this and make abortion a matter of conscience between a woman and her physician 

 
Mini Roundup:  On Friday, the mini roundup had a newspaper article about a doctor fighting the medical board to keep his license. Now, here’s the Lifenews version of the story. No wonder it often seems like anti-choice activists are working with different "facts" than the rest of the population.
 
February 22, 2010

Victory
for NC bishops as state abandons plan to compare
pro-life laws
Catholic Culture

Via
‘accounting trick,’ taxpayers foot
abortion bills
OneNewsNow

Teen
clinics fear state budget cuts
Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Calls
for Katine men to take more interest in
family planning
The Guardian

Catholic
theology professor advises student to work with Planned Parenthood
 Catholic
Culture

 

February 21, 2010

The
Pill and Breast Cancer
American Thinker

Woman
who assaulted a
pro-life protester cancels abortion and
thanks protester
Hot
Air

W.Va.
Ultrasound Bill Should Be Passed
Wheeling Intelligencer

Abortion
blurs ethical lines
Monroe
News Star

Ohio
Senate proposes opposition to ‘Freedom of Choice Act’
Stow Sentry

State
Abortion Law
Repeal Now Appears to be Certainty

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Stricter
abortion
laws may start in Nebraska
Omaha World-Herald

Planned
Parenthood Employee Resigns, Exposes Undesirable Aspect of Legal
Abortion
Associated Content

Anti-abortion
demands on health care reform are wrong
The Hudson Reporter

Anti-abortion
posters to stay: candidate
ABC Online

Pro-life
doctors challenge proposed New Zealand
abortion guidelines
Catholic News Agency

Restoring
family planning
services can save taxpayers millions

Spartanburg Herald Journal

Support
groups that help families
The Coloradoan

27 family planning
projects given to NGOs
Daily Times

 

February 20, 2010

Oklahoma:
Abortion Law
Nullified
New
York Times

Abortion
decision not up to the government
Allentown Morning Call

Abortion
drugs warning
Gulf
Daily News

Anti-abortion
group rallies against clinic in East Knoxville
WVLT

LaPorte
County couple deceived in
adoption scam
WNDU-TV

Mr.
Harper, ‘maternal health’ isn’t very healthy without a choice
Globe and Mail

Exclusive
Look: Across the Aisle,
Pro-Life Bond Strong in Health Care Fight
Lifesite

With
Palin as Inspiration, More Conservative Women Making Voices Heard
FOXNews

Don’t
take for granted reproductive rights

Ottawa Citizen

Institute
recruiting couples for study of natural
family planning
Georgia Bulletin

Group
tells commission about opposition to Planned Parenthood
Sturgis Journal

Labour
monitors sex scenes on television
Telegraph.co.uk

 

February 19, 2010

Governor
Tim Pawlenty Promotes
Pro-Life, Opposes Obama Health Care at CPAC
LifeNews.com

Pro-Life
Women Leaders Address CPAC Conference: We’re Winning on Abortion
LifeNews.com

Nebraska
Pro-Life
Advocates to Rally Next Week as Legislature Hears Abortion Bills
LifeNews.com

Oklahoma
Judge Rules Comprehensive
Pro-Life Law on Abortion Unconstitutional
LifeNews.com

Judge
To Decide Constitutionality Of Oklahoma
Abortion Law
News On 6

On
morality matters, it’s Catholic v. Catholic on line
USA Today

Obama
Pro-
Abortion
Health Care Reconciliation Bill Expected Monday, Then Summit
LifeNews.com

Abortion
Bill Filed in Legislature
The Jacksonville Observer

Legislator
wants Florida to ban
abortion
Tallahassee Democrat

Jamaican
doctor accused of
abortion on 13-year-old
Washington Post

Abortion and
black children
The
Star-Ledger – NJ.com

Oklahoma
Court Calls 2009
Abortion Restriction Law Unconstitutional
ABC News

Health
Care Reform: How Democrats Might Deal With
Abortion Language
 Firedoglake

Florida
bill would make
abortion punishable by life in prison
Feministing

Abortion
Billboards: Strong Words Spark Debate in Atlanta’s Black Neighborhoods
ABC News

Abortion
Practitioner Keeps License Despite Violating Court Order, Medical Board
LifeNews.com

Louisiana
Forced to Side with Same-Sex Couple in
Adoption Case
CitizenLink

Catholic
Bishops hold fast in rejecting fertility technology
Washington Post

LIFE
DIGEST: Planned Parenthood flourishes

BP News

A
woman is more than a baby machine
Ottawa Citizen

Pentagon
to Provide Emergency
Contraception on US Bases
EmpowHer

Teen
pregnancy rate up for 1st time in more than 10 years
American Medical News

Clark
Chronicle: Pregnancy drastically alters teen life
my.hsj.org

Dispelling
the Myths
Christian
Post

New
version of sex education bill to get hearing
Salt Lake Tribune