Supreme Court OKs Abortion Procedure Ban
Justices signal readiness for more abortion limits
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court’s conservative majority handed anti-abortion forces a major victory Wednesday in a decision that bans a controversial abortion procedure and set the stage for further restrictions. For the first time since the court established a woman’s right to an abortion in 1973, the justices upheld a nationwide ban on a specific abortion method, labeled partial-birth abortion by its opponents. The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.
I’ve never characterized myself as an “abortion rights” advocate. I am, however, an advocate of the right of a woman to control her own body. A woman should have the absolute right to make decisions regarding her own body. Period. I know that is going to strike some anti-choice advocates as overly permissive, but if I were a woman, I sure as Hell wouldn’t some self-righteous religious zealot telling me what I can or cannot do. What’s the old motto…”My body, my choice.”? Indeed/
Granted, an abortion is almost never a good thing. What I cannot fathom, though, is that even though the religious zealots would have you believe that ALL abortions are EVIL under ANY imaginable circumstance, damn few of them offer to adopt and raise the child in question. What they want is to be able to force their narrow agenda down the throats of all Americans and to give that agenda the force of law.
I’m no fan of the so-called “partial-birth abortion”. Thankfully, it is a rarely used and rarely necessary procedure. What disturbs me about the Supreme Court decision is that we now have politicians and justices engaged in making medical decisions. Talk about a slippery slope…. This decision can, and should, be taken as ample evidence of the Right’s antipathy towards American women. To far too many religious zealots, women are merely vessels through which our race is to ensure it’s continued existence and primacy. What about those rare cases in which a “partial-birth abortion” might be in the best interests of the woman’s health- or continued existence? Too damn bad. So a woman has to die- AT LEAST SHE DIDN’T KILL HER UNBORN CHILD!
The law is constitutional despite not containing an exception that would allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman’s health, Kennedy said. “The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice,” he wrote in the majority opinion.
Interesting isn’t it, that a well-fed Conservative White male feels he has the perfect right to tell a TRAINED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL how to treat his or her patients? Yes, I understand that law, medicine, and morality all interesect in this case, and that the results when this happens are never good. But what is it that allows Kennedy and those who joined him in the majority to feel they have the right to dictate available medical options to a medical doctor?
Roe v. Wade is settled law, and it has been since 1973. Chief Justice John Roberts admitted as much during his confirmation hearings. Yet you can bet that when and if Roe or a similar case comes before the Supreme Court for review, he’ll be first in line to vote to overturn. This possibility should concern all of us tremendously.
I’m less concerned about “partial-birth abortion” than the principle established by this decision. What it does is crack the door. Now that anti-abortion activists have their majority on the court (thanks to Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © ), this decision gives them reason to hope for more and bigger things. The ultimate prize, of course, is the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that affirmed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion.
In a perfect world, abortion wouldn’t be a option. All children would be healthy, wanted, and loved. Sadly, we live in a decidedly imperfect world, one where those on the Far Right feel that they have the perfect right to force their narrow religious agenda on all Americans. That the majority of Americans don’t think, act, or believe as these intolerant religious zealots do is besides the point. I suppose you can do that when you’re absolutely convinced that God is on your side, no?
Kennedy’s opinion, joined by Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, was a long-awaited resounding win that abortion opponents expected from the more conservative bench.
The administration defended the law as drawing a bright line between abortion and infanticide.
Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the “sanctity of life.”
“I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that prohibits the abhorrent procedure of partial birth abortion,” he said. “Today’s decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.
Every President, when presented with the opportunity, selects Supreme Court Justices who reflect his own beliefs and philosophies. That’s nothing new; it’s happened before The Worst President EVER © stole the 2000 election, and it will happen after he’s gone. What’s different about this court is that the very President who rode into Washington promising to be a “uniter” and not a “divider” has done his level best to divide this country along religious and ideological lines. His very clear message to the majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose is an unqualified “GO F—K YOURSELVES….I’M IN CHARGE; YOU’RE NOT.”
What would Jesus do? Well, I’m not a Christian, but even I’d have to think he’d kick Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s © bony ass. Thirty-four years of settled law, now on it’s way to the dustbin of history, simply because there’s a new sheriff in town. So much for Christian tolerance and charity, eh?
Lord, save us from your followers….
