So, “When does life begin?” was never the right question. It was just the Right’s question.
The real question is when does a living thing acquire a right to go on living?

Apparently I was wrong in my previous comment on the South Dakota abortion post. I said that a woman couldn’t take the morning after pill. Well, they can according to the new law, but only up to five days.
After that they’re murderers.
From Slate:
Section 3, however, tells a different story: “Nothing in section 2 of [...]

Here’s the actual language in the new law that denies women their equal rights:
No person may knowingly administer to, prescribe for, or procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being. No [...]

Just wait…there will be more:
JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi House committee voted Tuesday to ban most abortions in the state - an unexpected move that left abortion opponents grappling to stake out a position on a proposal that could prompt a lengthy court battle.
The only abortions allowed under the bill would be if the life [...]

Looks like the forces waging the war over Roe are digging the trenches for another (final?) battle. South Dakota is on the verge of all but banning abortion, a move that will almost certainly spawn a case that is appealed to the Supreme Court. To people like South Dakota State Representative Roger Hunt, this move [...]

Yes, the Senate in SD voted for eliminating abortion rights, and by nearly a 2-1 margin:
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) â€â€? South Dakota moved closer to imposing some of the strictest limits on abortion in the nation as the state Senate approved legislation that would ban the procedure except when the woman’s life is in danger.
The bill, [...]

Here we go…
The South Dakota House has passed a bill that would nearly ban all abortions in the state, ushering the issue to the state Senate.
Supporters are pushing the measure in hopes of drawing a legal challenge that will cause the US Supreme Court to reverse its 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
The bill banning all abortions [...]

Now that Alito is on the bench, several very pro-life states are going to start introducing legislation that will test Roe v. Wade.
From the Washington Times:
Legislators in at least five states are proposing bold anti-abortion measures as the Bush administration reshapes the U.S. Supreme Court, a report said.
With the goal of challenging the Roe vs. [...]

Looks like the SCOTUS doesn’t want to touch the abortion hot potato right now.
Hmm, I wonder why…
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that the lower courts were wrong to declare a New Hampshire abortion law unconstitutional in its entirety. Instead, the justices said, the lower courts should look for a [...]

On the topic of abortion, Alito has skillfully addressed critic’s concerns. I still think it’s going to be a party line vote because nobody on the Dem side wants to take a chance with this guy,
Personally, he still concerns me. Having an open mind is not the same as respecting precedent and everybody knows [...]

The paper trail on Samuel Alito continues to build where Roe v. Wade is concerned. Obviously this troubles me, as it does a majority of Americans.
1985 seems to be proving a fairly decisive year for Alito.
As a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. helped devise a legal [...]

First, some background.
It’s the middle of the night in New Hampshire, and a teenager, afraid to tell her parents she is pregnant, appears at an emergency room. A doctor diagnoses a spike in blood pressure that won’t kill the girl but could render her sterile unless she has an immediate abortion. The doctor calls a [...]

No surprise here.
“I think he’s got a lot of explaining to do, and depending on how he does, I think will determine whether or not he has a problem or not,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which plans confirmation hearings in early January.
In 1985, Alito was applying to become [...]

Decisions like these are never easy. However, should they be outlawed?
From the Wash Post:
“So when do you go for the abortion?” my friend asked, her voice sympathetic.
“Wednesday,” I replied, and then hurriedly got off the phone. I called Mike, my boyfriend, in tears, complaining about how inconsiderate people are, how no one thinks before they [...]

Dan Savage breaks down privacy laws in a great editorial:
In 1961, Griswold, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, opened a birth-control clinic in New Haven. She was promptly arrested for dispensing contraceptives to a married couple and was eventually convicted and fined $100. She appealed, and when her case reached the [...]

Well, it’s official. Alito is strongly against abortion and its legality.
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee, wrote that “the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion” in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.
“I personally believe very strongly” in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application [...]

First, some history:
The formal story began in 1866, when a physician named John Langdon Down published an essay in England in which he described a set of children with common features who were distinct from other children with mental retardation. Down was superintendent of an asylum for children with mental retardation in Surrey, England when [...]

Who said this?
The Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands’ knowledge because of perceived problemsâ€â€?such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands’ previously expressed oppositionâ€â€?that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion. In addition, the legislature could have reasonably [...]

Jeff Goldstein does a good job, I think, dissecting a typically dismissive Democratic statement (Kevin Drum, in this case) about spousal notification in the Pennsylvania abortion law. Drum calls it one of a list of “hot button conservative social issues that have at their core a desire to enforce traditional sex and gender roles,” and [...]

This is what I’m talking about.
Don’t torture the Constitution to make it confess to a “right to privacy” that’s not there. Don’t make abortion legally protected based on Thad Stevens’ Reconstruction amendments. Most Americans want a right to privacy; most accept some form of legalized abortion. Make it explicit: pass an amendment.

Problematically, a right to [...]