We told them over and over again that the Presidential election mattered. We told them in 2000, we told them in 2004. We told them that if President Bush was elected he would appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court. We told them he liked Scalia and Thomas. That he wasn't going to appoint another Souter like his dad. We told them that the right to choose hung in the balance. They elected him anyway. And what did he do when given the chance - he appointed Roberts and Alito. And with their new found conservative majority the US Supreme Court has unpheld an abortion ban. "In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which Bush signed into law in 2003, does not violate a woman's right to have an abortion."
Sometimes I hate being right.
6 comments:
Take heart in the fact the right wing will soon realize that they didn't get the reversal of Roe that they asked for, that they won't get it from this Court, that the Senate will never again confirm another Bushee and that the backlash effectively makes Senator Clinton the next President of the United States.
This is the clearest instance yet of politicians and judges infringing on a physicians professional autonomy. Suddenly its no longer up to his/her medical judgement with regard to choosing techniques - instead, he has to defer to Justice Kennedy et al. I'm sure we'll be hearing from the AMA any moment now (not).
I'm feeling more than a little heartsick right now, especially for the ob-gyns I know. This is no way to have to practice medicine. I have been wondering since the start of this whole thing how they would ever be able to enforce it, and every scenario I come up with is more Big Brother-esque than the next. I wish the medical profession would be a hell of a lot more outraged than they seem to be.
I was actually down at the Supreme Court today because of the need to do something, however insufficient and lame - you may catch a glimpse of me in the CBS News coverage. And I was standing next to Kim Gandy at some point while photos were being taken so you may see me at some point. Good thing I don't have to hide my political affiliations too much at work or anything...
I'm trying to make myself read the whole opinion, but for now, I think the last paragraph of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissent says it best:
"In sum, the notion that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act furthers any legitimate governmental interest is, quite simply, irrational. The Court's defense of the statute provides no saving explanation. In candor, the Act, and the Court's defense of it, cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court--and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives. See supra, at 3, n. 2; supra, at 7, n. 4. When "a statute burdens constitutional rights and all that can be said on its behalf is that it is the vehicle that legislators have chosen for expressing their hostility to those rights, the burden is undue." Stenberg, 530 U. S., at 952 (Ginsburg, J., concurring) (quoting Hope Clinic v. Ryan, 195 F. 3d 857, 881 (CA7 1999) (Posner, C. J., dissenting))."
Bec, I'm glad you included the Ginsburg quote. It is excellent. I wasn't going to bother reading the decision, but now I know I'll have to at least read her dissent.
However - "I was actually down at the Supreme Court today because of the need to do something" - as opposed to the times when you're down there just skulking?
I tried to stop by the rally yesterday but it had already broken up when I arrived. Based on the signage it looked like the usual collection of NARAL, NOW, EMILY's List, and PP people. And as always that one guy with the Reverse Roe sign.
I think it is interesting that all the Democratic candidates came out against the decision. I thought it was ok to be against PBA.
The worm has certainly turned on that one - note the awkwardness of Reid decrying the decision, when he voted in favor of the legislation.
I think what has changed is that we are no longer alone in ringing the warning bell (more like sounding the air raid siren) that the GOP has become a nest of clero-fascists who are, yes, that extreme. Back in the day, we were just hysterical activists who took every prayer breakfast as evidence of a conspiracy. Now that the bastards have come out from under the flapjacks, we get columns from Krugman et al - respectable, mainstream authorities (ahem) - about the radical agenda of religious right.
Somehow it reminds me of a comedy skit (probably SNL) where a woman in a meeting makes a comment, and no one acknowledges her, and then a man makes the same comment and everyone heaps praise on him, over and over again. No wait, that wasn't a skit, that was life...
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