November 16, 2006                                             Support the Center now! THE SUPREME TEST: CENTER HAS ITS DAY IN COURT On November 8, the Center appeared before the Supreme Court to argue against the first-ever federal ban on abortion, the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003." Justice Kennedy, with whom pundits speculate the decision lies, asked a lot of questions about significant medical issues surrounding the law, despite his dissent when the Court struck down Nebraska's nearly identical ban six years ago. "I truly believe that Kennedy is an open-minded and extremely fair justice," says Priscilla Smith, Director of the Center's Domestic Legal Program. "Although his dissent in 2000 was disturbing, I hope that we were able to really impress upon him the considerable health risks to women created by the ban." The Court was packed with Center staff (many of whom spent the night outside the Court to get tickets), board members and, of course, Smith's family. Read more about the Center's challenge to the Federal Abortion Ban > > CENTER PRESIDENT NANCY NORTHUP JOINS DEBATE AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB IN WASHINGTON, D.C. On November 2, one week before our Supreme Court case, Center President Nancy Northup debated the constitutionality of the first-ever federal abortion ban and the necessity of the health exception in abortion law as part of a panel discussion; "Judicial Showdown: The Supreme Court Returns to the Abortion Debate." The debate was organized by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, and the Federalist Society. Other panelists included Helen M. Alvaré, Associate Professor at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, Benjamin W. Bull, Chief Counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and the Rev. Dr. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Former Chair of the National Board at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Click here to learn more > > CENTER INVITED TO SUPPORT CASE ON BEHALF OF NEPALESE GIRLS The Nepalese practice of kumari pratha involves appointing a girl as young as two years old to assume the role of a "living goddess" until she attains puberty. Separated from their parents, Kumaris adhere to strict religious rules and rituals that impose severe restrictions on their mobility, diet, access to health care, and education. The Center was recently invited to submit a memorandum to Nepal's Supreme Court in support of a case against this practice. Click here to learn more > > JUDGE PERMITS CENTER TO SUBPOENA WHITE HOUSE DOCUMENTS IN OUR SUIT AGAINST THE FDA On November 8, U.S. Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky ruled that the Center can subpoena White House documents as part of our lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to make Plan B available without a prescription to women of all ages. "'We expect to get the documents we'd ask for,'" Sanford Cohen, Deputy Director of the Domestic Legal Program at the Center, told Bloomberg, a wire service picked up by hundreds of newspapers across the country. The government has been withholding these important documents, which we expect to bolster our claims that the FDA acted in bad faith, and that the White House was involved. We will serve the subpoena in the next week. Read the Center's press release > > CEDAW COMMITTEE ISSUES LANDMARK REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS JUDGMENT While undergoing surgery in connection with a miscarriage in a public hospital in Hungary, A.S., a Hungarian woman of Roma origin, was asked to sign a statement of consent to a caesarean section. The statement also contained a barely legible handwritten note containing the Latin word for sterilization. . . Click here to learn more > > CENTER CONDEMNS NICARAGUA'S OUTRAGEOUS ABORTION BAN On October 26, Nicaragua's congress passed a complete ban on abortion. Despite the election of Daniel Ortega to the presidency on November 8, the ban is still likely to go into effect, as his party also supported it. The ban offers no exceptions for women's health, for victims of rape or incest, or even for women whose lives are at risk. "We see this proposal as part of a backlash," Luisa Cabal, Director of the International Legal Program at the Center, told the Los Angeles Times on the eve of the bill's passage. "This not only goes against a regional and international trend, it would be a human rights violation in itself." Click here to learn more > >