USA – Er, Can I Ask a Few Questions About Abortion?

You know who really reduced abortion numbers in the U.S.? President Obama, with the Affordable Care Act.

By Nicholas Kristof, Opinion Columnist
Oct. 28, 2020

Millions of American Christians are likely to vote for President Trump on Tuesday because they believe it a religious obligation to support a president who will appoint “pro-life” judges.

But as I’ve observed before, there is an incipient rethinking underway in evangelical and Catholic circles about what it means to be “pro-life,” and let me try to add to that ferment. For the truth is that the litmus test approach to abortion on the part of many conservative Christians is anomalous, both religiously and historically.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/opinion/abortion-america-politics.html

A World Without Legal Abortion: How Activists Envision A ‘Post-Roe’ Nation

October 27, 2020
Sarah McCammon

Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation could open the door to a world that many anti-abortion-rights activists have been envisioning for decades.

"I hope and pray that we will be in a world post-Roe v. Wade," said Carrie Murray Nellis, 41, an adoption attorney based in Georgia.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/27/927862869/a-world-without-legal-abortion-how-activists-envision-a-post-roe-nation

USA – The Women the Pro-Choice Movement Left Behind

By MARY HARRIS
OCT 26, 2020

As we watch the Senate rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court this week, many people are worried about what her seating on the court will mean for Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion. But reproductive justice activist Laurie Bertram Roberts says we should have already been worried, like, 20 years ago. “I’m serious. We should have been worrying in the ’90s,” Roberts told me on Monday’s episode of What Next.

Laurie Bertram Roberts wasn’t always on this side of the issue. She was raised fundamentalist, but after suffering a miscarriage and later needing an abortion herself (one she was unable to obtain), she became a champion for reproductive rights. She’s spent much of her life straddling the poverty line as a working mother.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/pro-choice-abortion-roe-v-wade-women-left-behind.html

26.10.2020

Laurie Bertram Roberts

Mary Harris

National Organization for Women

How Barrett’s confirmation could influence the fight over abortion access

PBS, Oct 21, 2020
by Courtney Vinopal

Over her three-day confirmation hearing, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett repeatedly declined to discuss her stance on abortion. But while there is no way to know for certain how she will rule on such cases, legal scholars say that her record, as well as a careful reading of certain answers she gave the Senate Judiciary Committee, gives clues about where the Supreme Court could be headed on issues of reproductive rights.

Barrett assured members of the committee that she would bring “no agenda” to her role if confirmed to the high court. She has also expressed anti-abortion beliefs in the past, and joined two dissents on abortion restriction cases during her time on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Continued: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-barretts-confirmation-could-influence-the-fight-over-abortion-access

8 key findings about Catholics and abortion

BY DALIA FAHMY
OCTOBER 20, 2020

As the Senate prepares to vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, public attention has focused on her Catholic faith and, in particular, her stance on abortion rights.

Some critics, citing Barrett’s past rulings on abortion, have questioned her views on Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to abortion. Others have connected Barrett’s legal opinions to her embrace of Catholic teachings, which prohibit abortion. During Senate hearings last week, Barrett declined to give specific answers about her stance on Roe v. Wade, saying that she does not have “any agenda.” If she is confirmed, Barrett will be the sixth Catholic justice on the court.

Continued: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/20/8-key-findings-about-catholics-and-abortion/

What Happens if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?

By Quoctrung Bui, Claire Cain Miller and Margot Sanger-Katz
Ne York Times
Oct. 15, 2020

The almost-certain confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court has increased the chances that Roe v. Wade will be weakened or overturned. If that were to happen, abortion access would decline in large regions of the country, a new data analysis shows.

Legal abortion access would be unchanged in more than half of states, but it would effectively end for those living in much of the American South and Midwest, especially those who are poor, according to the analysis. (The analysis incorporates more recent data on research we wrote about last year.)

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/15/upshot/what-happens-if-roe-is-overturned.html

What to make of Amy Coney Barrett’s answers on Roe v. Wade so far, according to experts

‘I can’t pre-commit,’ Barrett said on the second day of confirmation hearings

Lena Felton
October 14

Abortion access took center stage within the first hour of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday. That was no surprise; along with the Affordable Care Act and LGBTQ protections, it’s been one of the most contentious issues since President Trump nominated her. Trump has pledged to appoint justices that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.

The Judiciary Committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), who was second in the questioning lineup, started with a long introduction to the topic, describing watching other young women in the 1950s try to obtain illegal abortions. The issue is “of a great importance, because it goes to a woman’s fundamental right to make the most personal decisions about their own body,” Feinstein said.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/what-to-make-of-amy-coney-barretts-answers-on-roe-v-wade-so-far-according-to-experts/

USA – Prosecutors Nationwide Say They’ll Refuse To Press Charges For Abortion Even If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned

Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff
Oct 14, 2020

As the third day of Senate hearings on President Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, had Republicans praising her reported pro-life personal beliefs Wednesday, dozens of elected prosecutors and attorneys general from across the nation issued a joint statement that they will not criminalize abortion even if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned.

In the letter, 64 prosecutors—which range from local prosecutors to state attorneys general—are clear that they will not prosecute people who elect to have an abortion or the doctors who carry out the procedure, “even if the protections of Roe v. Wade were to be eroded or overturned,” the letter reads.

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/10/14/prosecutors-nationwide-say-theyll-refuse-to-press-charges-for-abortion-even-if-roe-v-wade-is-overturned/#2b6ec42e1dcc

14.10.2020

overturning Roe v. Wade

USA – Supreme Court nominee Barrett says personal views will not affect her decisions on abortion, health care

Judge Amy Coney Barrett faces first day of questioning from senators

By Seung Min Kim and Ann E. Marimow
Oct. 13, 2020

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday disputed assertions by Democrats that she would be a reliable vote to restrict health-care access and abortion rights, pledging during the second day of her confirmation hearing that she has no policy agenda while deflecting specifics about how she would rule.

Barrett came into her nomination with a lengthy public record that underscores a personal opposition to abortion and skepticism about legal reasonings that upheld the Affordable Care Act. She testified Tuesday that she believes Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion, is not among the “super precedents” of the Supreme Court that are considered so fundamental they cannot be overturned.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-barrett-senate-trump/2020/10/13/bd0e0f8a-0d5f-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html

Beyond Abortion: What’s at Stake With a Right-Wing Court

Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the highest court could spell bad news for LGBTQ equality, voting rights, and health care

Max Ufberg
Oct 12, 2020

Somehow, with the election less than a month away and Capitol Hill still reeling from a recent Covid-19 outbreak, Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s first Supreme Court confirmation hearings are set to begin today. Assuming the Senate votes to confirm Barrett — a woman who’s been described as an ideological heir to Justice Antonin Scalia — conservatives will take a 6–3 majority on the Supreme Court, giving the U.S. its most right-wing Court since 1950.

A conservative Supreme Court could rewrite the law around a number of issues, including reproductive rights, voting rights, health care, and law enforcement immunity. Below is a snapshot of what’s at stake with Barrett’s nomination.

Continued: https://gen.medium.com/beyond-abortion-whats-at-stake-with-a-right-wing-court-2267f7a2d68c