Democracy for Vancouver

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court changed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a national ban on a midterm method of ending pregnancies. The decision clears the way for states to pass new laws designed to discourage women from having abortions.

In a 5-4 ruling applauded by antiabortion forces, the court said the “government has a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.” In 2000, the court, also by a 5-4 margin, struck down a nearly identical state law on the grounds that it could force some women to undergo riskier surgery during the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. But the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2005 and President Bush’s appointment of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to succeed her tipped the balance the other way.

It was the first time the court upheld a ban on an abortion procedure. Though Wednesday’s opinion does not overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion, the majority said it was prepared to uphold new restrictions on doctors who perform them and women who seek them.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, speaking for the court, said that the government may not forbid abortion outright but that it “may use its voice and its regulatory authority” to dissuade women from ending pregnancies. The ban on what opponents call “partial-birth” abortions will “encourage some women to carry the infant to full term, thus reducing the absolute number” of such abortions, he added.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Alito joined Kennedy’s opinion. In a separate statement, Thomas and Scalia said they would vote to overrule Roe vs. Wade entirely.

Read on.
Wow.
Health care decisions for potentially life-threatening situations decided by Bush cronies and religious fascists?
Is anybody surprised by any of this?

As usual, Slim puts it into frightening focus:

Women are less safe today because doctors now have fewer treatment options. Even if the otherwise banned procedure can be performed to “save the life of the mother,” doctors will be afraid that their diagnosis will be second-guessed by prosecutors and judges with no medical training. These doctors will fear not only for their licenses and their malpractice coverage, but for their freedom from criminal prosecution.….

Skipping down:

…Placenta percreta has no cure but late term abortion. It develops in mid-pregnancy, and often the symptoms do not arise until the 20th week of gestation. There are alternatives to abortion, sure: awaiting viability (24-26 weeks) to do a premature c-section followed by an immediate hysterectomy. But the risks of this alternative are horrendous: rates of maternal and fetal death are enormously high, and blood loss in this type of procedure is greater than major organ transplant surgery…

Read her post here.
Yet another bleak day in Bush’s America.