May 4, 2005

Dear Friend and Supporter,

In 2002, while pregnant with twins, an Irish woman receives terrible news: one fetus has stopped developing entirely, and the other has developed a fatal chromosomal abnormality. Because abortion is illegal in Ireland, she is forced to travel alone to Britain to have the procedure. Now she is taking on her country's abortion law in the European Court of Human Rights (PDF), and the Center is joining her fight. Click here for more information.

The Center is weighing in on the first constitutional challenge to ease Colombia's ban on abortion. Colombia categorically prohibits abortion - the criminal code makes no exceptions. On April 13, Colombia citizen Monica Roa, a former fellow with the Center, filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the law. The Center has joined her struggle. Click here to learn more.

They are up to their dirty tricks again. The House passed another anti-abortion bill, this time targeting teens. "The Teen Endangerment Act," (H.R. 748) neither protects teens nor supports them, as its sponsors claim. Instead, it endangers their health by forcing them to endure unnecessary delays before having an emergency abortion - no matter how serious the health emergency is. In addition, the bill turns grandmothers into criminals for simply traveling with a teenager across state lines during her time of need. Click here to learn more about the Teen Endangerment Act .

Center attorney Janet Crepps presented oral arguments before the Supreme Court of Alaska, which is reviewing the Superior Court's 2003 decision to strike down Alaska's parental consent law. Click here to learn more.

Center attorney Priscilla Smith gave oral arguments in Carhart v. Gonzales at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the first appellate review of the federal abortion ban. The district court's decision declared the "Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003" unconstitutional, thereby outlawing federal bans on abortion. The government appealed the ruling. Click here to learn more about the federal abortion ban.

Please make a donation to the Center…your support is crucial, now as always.


Thanks for your support,

Nancy Northup
President, Center for Reproductive Rights