There are cases coming up which could reinstate the ban on "partial birth" abortions (a term we have let the right successfully frame, IMO), and the Bush Administration is so confident that it'll get its nominations through, it is encouraging the Supreme Court to take them on.
Via the AP, and picked up by Yahoo News.
The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a ban on a procedure that critics call "partial birth" abortions, setting up a showdown that could be decided by the president's new choice for the court.
More in extended...
There's no question that the timing of this is intentional:
The earliest that justices could take up the federal law, known as the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, is likely next spring. By then, the court could have two new members.
Bush fully intends to make good on his promise to the radical right wing fundamentalists in his party. Roberts is a lost cause now, but simply by virtue of the fact that he was nominated by this administration should make his views on privacy and choice clear. But we must fight to our last breath the upcoming nomination, which will be designed to push the court heavily to the right.
In its last major abortion ruling, the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote struck down Nebraska's so-called partial-birth abortion law in 2000. O'Connor, who voted with the majority, said that a similar law could pass muster if it were limited to that particular procedure and included an exception to preserve the mother's life and health.
The loss of O'Connor's swing vote will be devistating to the reproductive rights of women if we let it happen.