Federal Abortion Ban
On November 8, 2006, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases challenging the federal abortion ban. On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down a devastating decision, upholding the Federal Abortion Ban with no exception for when a woman's health is in danger. Residents of Massachusetts should know that their decision means a Bush-backed anti-choice law now trumps our state's greater protections for choice. Massachusetts voters have consistently elected state leaders who have stood up for—not attacked—our freedom and privacy. The decision shows how an anti-choice Congress and anti-choice president were able to use the political process to push this ban all the way to the Supreme Court and make it the law of the land, overriding our state's pro-choice laws that protect women's health. The Court, with the addition of Bush's appointees, has disregarded the medical opinion of leading doctors who oppose the ban. In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated that the 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." The organization represents 90 percent of the OB GYNs in this country. This case is about more than abortion. This decision means the Court sided with the Bush administration and showed itself willing to uphold laws that interfere in personal decisions that should be left up to a woman and her family. The same politicians behind this abortion ban also block stem-cell research and interfered in the Terri Schiavo case. Indeed the Court's decision is a setback for all Americans who believe politicians should not make private, personal medical decisions for the rest of us. Fortunately, Massachusetts has many pro-choice lawmakers who stood up to President Bush and opposed the Federal Abortion Ban. We will continue to call on their leadership to fight back against this intrusion into personal, private medical decisions.
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