October 11, 2005
Dear Friend and Supporter,
With the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Chief Justice and a nominee for a new associate justice, this has been a busy time at the Center. We've been watching the Court closely. It is impossible to know how the new Court will shift in its decisions, but we do know that we can win cases even in front of conservative judges. Click here to read what Nancy Northup, President of the Center, has to say about the new Court.
What is the value of a law if it not enforced? On September 21, we submitted an amicus brief to the European Court of Human Rights asking the Court to decide - for the first time - whether a state's failure to ensure that women legally entitled to abortion can exercise that right violates the European Convention on Human Rights. The plaintiff is a Polish woman who doctors concluded was at serious risk due to her pregnancy, yet ultimately refused to allow her to abort. She is now in danger of losing her vision. Click here to learn more.
Across the United States we are also fighting against regressive laws. Our case against Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline's "Kiss and Tell" law went before the court on September 13. Kline's outrageous interpretation of the state's child-abuse reporting law requires that any sexual activity involving a teen younger than 16 as possible evidence of child abuse be reported. It would even require a psychologist to report a teen who disclosed that she was "making out" with her boyfriend.
We are happy to report a victory in Michigan, where a federal court struck down the third ban on abortion enacted by the Michigan Legislature in the past decade. Judge Denise Page Hood held in the decision, dated September 12, that the law in question, the Legal Birth Definition Act, "creates a ban on actions at the heart of abortion procedures from the earliest stages of pregnancy."
And in Missouri we filed suit against a new law that will force the only abortion clinic in southwest Missouri - and one of only three in the entire state - to stop providing abortions. "The Missouri legislature is singling out doctors who perform abortions for unnecessary and harassing regulations. It's not only unfair, it creates an obstacle course for women who are simply trying to plan their families," says Janet Crepps, Center attorney.
Finally, as governments around the world respond to the AIDS pandemic, pregnant women are increasingly at the center of global prevention efforts. Many governments have begun to implement new initiatives, known as Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programs, which enable pregnant women to reduce the chances that their infants will be born with HIV. Our new briefing paper (PDF) addresses the fundamental human rights standards that governments must uphold in creating these programs.
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