The following post was published at my own blog. I wanted to cross post it here, but then saw that Holly had already posted about it. However, after talking to Joe, I have decided (with Joe actually) to publish my post on this anyway. For an interesting discussion be sure to check Holly’s post – she was on top of this news when it broke.
Mark Sherman reports for the AP (via Yahoo) that the U.S. Supreme Court “pheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.”
The 5-4 ruling 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.The opponents of the act “have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.
The decision pitted the court’s conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.
It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how — not whether — to perform an abortion.
As Sherman writes, the ruling by the U.S.S.C. “is likely to spur efforts at the state level to place more restrictions on abortions.”
From now on, quite clearly, ‘liberals’ in the U.S. will be on the defense – conservatives on the offense and… conservatives will be on the offense, from now on, with the idea that they can actually accomplish something.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, meanwhile, wasn’t too happy with the decision; she called the decision “alarming” and ‘said the ruling “refuses to take … seriously” previous Supreme Court decisions on abortion.’
She said that before mentioned decision “tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.”
I for one believe that Roe v. Wade was not the best of decisions. I do not quite see how the U.S. Constitution protects the ‘right’ of abortion. It was never considered a ‘right’ before Roe v. Wade. The only way to label it a ‘right’ was by appointing some creative and ‘open-minded’ judges to the bench. That being said, it is established law now, of course.
That does not mean that it should not be legal, it just means that they should have chosen a different way to make it legal than by a court decision.
Also: I believe that Roe v. Wade was, in the long run, a bad decision for the feminist and progressive movement in general. Why? It came too early. It should have been the end result, the last ‘victory’ for the feminist movement. Now it came while they still had a long way to go, they still had to accomplish and change a lot.
Quite a historical decision and… the blogosphere is reacting: Happy Furry Puppy Story isn’t happy, neither is Beck at Unfogged. A.J. Strata and Wizbang’s Kim Priestap meanwhile, celebrate. I am awaiting reactions of some of the major bloggers, both Left and Right, so this post will be updated.
UPDATE
Ed Morrissey: “Today’s ruling is a victory for moderation and common sense.”
Feministe: “Thank you, Anthony Kennedy.”
Vanessa at Feministing: “We’re fucked.”
UPDATE II
Also more at:
Melissa at Shakesville: “Does any of that sound like these “pro-lifersâ€? give a diddly shit about healthy women and healthy babies? Of course not. Because it’s not about healthy women and healthy babies; it’s about control.”
Joe at AMERICAblog: “this looks like a victory for the theocrats. They’ve got the Supreme Court they want now — and they won’t stop here. Yes, this means a woman’s right to choose is in peril.”
UPDATE III
For those who are wondering: I already stated this in the past, so I thought it would be useless to repeat myself but.. seemingly, repeating myself would be useful. My view on abortion: I was a strong supporter of the woman’s right to choose. Nowadays, I am becoming more and more conservative perhaps, I am not sure anymore. My religion, I have to admit, plays a role in this. As a conservative liberal, this issue is an incredibly difficult issue. Above else, I value freedom, liberty. But… not if that means that one kills another human being / soul. Is it a human being, does it have a soul, or not? If so… I find it difficult to support abortion. On the other hand, separation of Church and State.
In other words: I really, really, don’t know.
It’s not the popular thing to do, to not have a strong opinion on this matter, but it is like it is.
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