It looks like they're getting ready to debate the abortion-criminalization bill today. I'm not sure if this holds much water, but this is an interesting comment.
A New Jersey lawyer who testified on the bill during a committee hearing last week said the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling didn't take on the question of life's beginning. Neither have subsequent rulings, Harold Cassidy said. He said abortion can be shown to harm women, physically, emotionally and mentally.While I was checking out some of the SD papers, I noted that the Pierre Capital Journal was running an on-line poll on the issue. As I go to press, the No's are leading 55-38% with only 47 votes in. However, it would only take a few interest readers of mind to nudge that a bit."If you show them this hurts women ... that case will be reconsidered," Cassidy said.
That argument is based on the possibility that the federal court will look at the question as a new issue rather than following a fairly standard procedure in court appeals of relying on past cases on the same subject and comparing the new case to rulings made in those previous cases.
Mark, the bill passed the house last night, with the only amendment being a good one which cleared up the "health exception" in the original bill.
Posted by: Chris Burgwald | February 11, 2004 at 08:38 PM