COMMENTARY: "43 Years Later, Anti-Choice Advocates Continue to Ignore ‘Roe’" by Jessica Mason Piekklo, published by RH Reality Check on January 21, 2016.
GIST: "What good is having the right to an abortion as settled law if anti-choice advocates refuse to recognize it as such?
(Shutterstock) Friday marks the 43rd anniversary of
Roe v. Wade, and abortion rights have never been more at risk.
Anna Yocca
sits in a Tennessee jail, waiting for her next court appearance on an
attempted murder charge for allegedly trying to self-induce an abortion
with a court hanger. Later this spring, the Roberts Court will hear
arguments in
Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, a case challenging provisions of
HB 2,
an omnibus law that has largely succeeded in basically regulating
abortion out of existence in Texas, even with portions blocked by the
courts. Meanwhile,
cases in Michigan and California
are testing whether or not Catholic hospitals can refuse to follow best
medical practices and deny reproductive health care to patients based
on religious doctrine. Forty-three years after the Supreme Court decided
Roe v.
Wade, this is what “settled law” looks like when it comes to abortion
rights—a legal landscape arguably as hostile and confusing for many
pregnant patients as it was before
Roe.........Thus, since 2007, anti-choice lawmakers have continued to advance restrictions grounded more in
science fiction than science. Those include claims that a
fetus feels pain at 20 weeks, so states should ban the procedure at that point, and the assertion that abortion —a medical procedure far safer than, say,
some dental work—is so harmful it requires heightened regulation. No doubt about it: The anniversary of
Roe v. Wade marks an
important milestone for gender equality and an important milestone for
the reproductive rights movement. But that milestone no longer marks
progress forward. Instead it’s more of a reminder that no matter the
law, conservatives will never quit with their attacks on women’s bodies
and our ability to manage them."
The entire commentary can be found at:
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2016/01/21/43-years-later-anti-choice-advocates-continue-ignore-roe/
See Wikipedia entry:
"Roe v. Wade, 410
U.S. 113 (1973), is a
landmark decision by the
United States Supreme Court on the issue of
abortion. It was decided simultaneously with a companion case,
Doe v. Bolton. The Court ruled 7–2 that a right to
privacy under the
Due Process Clause of the
14th Amendment
extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that this right
must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in
regulating abortions: protecting women's health and protecting the
potentiality of human life.
[1] Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court resolved this
balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the third
trimester of pregnancy. Later, in
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), the Court rejected
Roe's trimester framework while affirming its central holding that a woman has a right to abortion until
fetal viability.
[2] The
Roe decision defined "viable" as "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid."
[3] Justices in
Casey acknowledged that viability may occur at 23 or 24 weeks, or sometimes even earlier, in light of medical advances.
[4] In disallowing many
state and
federal restrictions on
abortion in the United States,
[5][6] Roe v. Wade prompted a
national debate
that continues today about issues including whether, and to what
extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of
abortion, what methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional
adjudication, and what the role should be of
religious and
moral views in the political sphere.
Roe v. Wade reshaped national politics, dividing much of the United States into
pro-choice and
pro-life camps, while activating
grassroots movements on both sides......... The Court issued its decision on January 22, 1973, with a 7-to-2
majority vote in favor of Roe. Justices Burger, Douglas, and Stewart
filed concurring opinions, and Justice White filed a dissenting opinion
in which Justice Rehnquist joined. Burger's, Douglas's, and White's
opinions were issued along with the Court's opinion in
Doe v. Bolton (announced on the same day as
Roe v. Wade). The Court deemed abortion a
fundamental right under the
United States Constitution, thereby subjecting all laws attempting to restrict it to the standard of
strict scrutiny.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I
have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses
several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of
the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this
powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and
myself get more out of the site.
The
Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible
years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr.
Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of
Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"
section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It
can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
Harold Levy: Publisher;
