By James A. Lyons
By arming the rebels, we're aiding al Qaeda
Pro-life forces have legislative momentum across the country heading into 2013, but pro-choice supporters also see plenty of opportunities to win in and out of the courts, as the nation's political clash over abortion rights shows no signs of easing ahead of the 40th anniversary this month of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.
Attorneys for Mississippi's only abortion clinic again are asking a federal judge to block a state law that threatens to eventually close the facility, though a closing is not expected any time soon.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a lawsuit over an Oklahoma "personhood" amendment that sought to grant state constitutional protections to human embryos starting at conception, but pro-life advocates say the issue is far from over.
Arizona's ban on abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy is poised to take effect this week as scheduled after a federal judge ruled Monday that the new law is constitutional.
At a House hearing punctuated by the wails of a Chinese woman mourning a baby that was forcibly aborted 17 years ago, lawmakers said there were signs that increased domestic and international pressure on Chinese officials to end the country's one-child policy was beginning to have an effect.
A Texas abortion law passed last year that requires doctors to show sonograms to patients can be enforced while opponents challenge the measure in court, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling that signaled that the judges believe the law is constitutional.
A federal judge Tuesday said that a last-minute Food and Drug Administration response to a citizen petition seeking to relax FDA rules regarding a birth-control product rendered moot a complaint to hold the agency in contempt of court.
President Barack Obama said Thursday it was just common sense to keep girls under the age of 17 from being able to buy a morning-after contraceptive pill off a drugstore shelf. Citing his own two daughters, Obama said: "I think most parents would probably feel the same way."
"We will not allow this frontal assault on fundamental reproductive rights to go unchallenged," said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
"They reveal what the end game is, which is to ban abortions as early as possible," she said. "This isn't chipping away. It's taking a sledgehammer."
