The LA Times writes about the right-wing plans to test Roe v. Wade if Alito is successfully put on the bench.
Taking direct aim at Roe vs. Wade, lawmakers from several states are proposing broad restrictions on abortion, with the goal of forcing the U.S. Supreme Court — once it has a second new justice — to revisit the landmark ruling issued 33 years ago today.
The bill under consideration in Indiana would ban all abortions, except when continuing the pregnancy would threaten the woman’s life or put her physical health in danger of “substantial permanent impairment.” Similar legislation is pending in Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee.
The bills are in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s 1973 rulings establishing abortion as a constitutional right. Roe vs. Wade and its companion case, Doe vs. Bolton, asserted that doctors could consider “all factors … relevant to the well-being of the patient,” including emotional and psychological health.
In the years since, states have adopted a variety of laws designed to restrict access to abortion or force women to think through alternatives. Those efforts are expected to continue this year, with states considering proposals to impose new licensing standards on abortion clinics, or to require women seeking abortions to first view ultrasound images of their fetuses and discuss with a counselor the pain a fetus might feel during the procedure.
The addition of two Bushist judges to the court will probably not be enough to overturn Roe. But they might be able to chip away around the edges. And they plan on testing the waters right away.
Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff, serving his first term in the Indiana Legislature, wrote House Bill 1096 knowing it would conflict with Roe vs. Wade.
That was precisely his point: He wants his ban appealed to the Supreme Court, in hopes that the justices will overturn Roe and give states the power to make abortion a crime. “On an issue that’s this personal, it should be decided as local as possible,” he said. “We either want these procedures, or we don’t…. And I don’t.”
Someone should inform Mr. Woodruff that he will never need to have that particular procedure and should therefore relax and stop obsessing over medical matters that should not concern him. The right-wingers are loading up the state challenges to Roe as part of their overall strategy to undermine women’s equality in our society. The LA Times lists some of what they have already accomplished.
Louisiana sets out that “the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception.” The Nebraska Legislature has said that it “expressly deplore[s] the destruction of unborn human lives.” Pennsylvania seeks “to extend to the unborn the equal protection of the laws.” Utah, Missouri and Illinois are among several other states with similar language in their constitutions or statutes.
Such statements are merely philosophical; they don’t have the force of law. But at least a dozen states have criminal laws banning abortion. They can’t be enforced as long as Roe vs. Wade remains binding. In theory, though, they could take effect immediately upon a reversal, subjecting abortion providers to penalties ranging from 12 months’ hard labor in Alabama to 20 years’ imprisonment in Rhode Island.
“What the public doesn’t realize is that the building blocks are already in place to re-criminalize abortion if Roe is overturned,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York.
She and other abortion rights activists predict that abortion would remain legal on the East and West coasts and in a few states in between — among them Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada and New Mexico. They expect that at least 19 states across the Midwest and South would ban abortion.
I wonder how many women are going support these restrictions and intrusions if they ever succeed in overturning Roe? I think it’ll radicalize a lot of people that have not been on the battlefield and never thought their rights could be taken away until it was too late. If only enough of them were speaking up now we wouldn’t have to worry about Alito being confirmed…they would never dare nominate an anti-choice man to replace the first woman on the court.
