Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Criminalizing Reproduction: (Alabama style): Attacks on science, medicine and the right to choose: Major Development; The Huffington Post (National Reporter Ryan Grenoble) reports that shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 150-year-old law criminalizing abortion in the state could be reinstated, State Attorney General Chris Mayes pledged not to enforce an 'unconscionable abortion ban' which she called an 'affront to freedom.'…“By effectively striking down a law passed this century and replacing it with one from 160 years ago, the Court has risked the health and lives of Arizonans,” Mayes said. She added: “Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state.” Should the law nevertheless be enacted after its current 14-day stay, it would be among the strictest in the country, banning the procedure in all cases except to save the mother’s life. Anyone who helps facilitate an abortion would also face a felony charge, punishable by a two-to-five-year prison sentence “This is far from the end of the debate on reproductive freedom, and I look forward to the people of Arizona having their say in the matter,” Mayes concluded. “And let me be completely clear, as long as I am Attorney General, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state.”



PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  "In recent years, I have taken on the  theme of criminalizing reproduction - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with  flawed science in its myriad forms  - as I am utterly opposed to the current movement in the United States (and some other countries) emboldened by the overturning of Roe Versus Wade,  towards imprisoning women and their physicians and others who help them secure a safe abortion,  on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). I can’t remember the source, but agree  totally with the sentiment that control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America - or anywhere else -  so they can  participate  equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for  loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. (Far too many of those those around these days.) 


Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Arizona Democrat has previously voiced her support for an abortion rights ballot measure in the state. That effort, championed by a group calling itself Arizona for Abortion Access, recently secured enough signatures to go before voters this fall. The group’s proposed constitutional amendment would codify the right to an abortion in the state until the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions afterward to protect the life of the mother."

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STORY: "Arizona Attorney General Says She Wouldn't Enforce 'Unconscionable' Abortion Ban," by  National Reporter Ryan Grenoble, the Huffington Post reports, on April 9, 2024.


SUB-HEADING: "The law dates back to 1864, predating Arizona's own statehood."


GIST: "Shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 150-year-old law criminalizing abortion in the state could be reinstated, the state attorney general pledged not to enforce it."

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes minced no words in a statement that denounced the “unconscionable” ruling as “an affront to freedom.” “By effectively striking down a law passed this century and replacing it with one from 160 years ago, the Court has risked the health and lives of Arizonans,” Mayes said.  She added: “Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state.”  Should the law nevertheless be enacted after its current 14-day stay, it would be among the strictest in the country, banning the procedure in all cases except to save the mother’s life. Anyone who helps facilitate an abortion would also face a felony charge, punishable by a two-to-five-year prison sentence “This is far from the end of the debate on reproductive freedom, and I look forward to the people of Arizona having their say in the matter,” Mayes concluded. “And let me be completely clear, as long as I am Attorney General, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state.” The Arizona Democrat has previously voiced her support for an abortion rights ballot measure in the state. That effort, championed by a group calling itself Arizona for Abortion Access, recently secured enough signatures to go before voters this fall. The group’s proposed constitutional amendment would codify the right to an abortion in the state until the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions afterward to protect the life of the mother."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:


https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985


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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;


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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.


https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801

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