Categories
Abortion Constitutionality

“The Disappearing ‘Undue Burden’ Standard for Abortion Rights”

That’s the title of a recent comment by Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker. See http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/disappearing-undue-burden-standard-abortion-rights Toobin describes the “undue burden” standard as the Justice O’Connor’s “most important triumph during her long and consequential tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court” and laments the prospect of the test’s impending demise.  Toobin wrongly states that O’Connor’s views roughly mirrored those of […]

Categories
Abortion Feminism

amicus brief filed by pro-life organizations in pregnancy discrimination case

Here is a link to a good post by Tom Berg about an amicus brief filed by pro-life organizations in an important case involving pregnancy discrimination. University Faculty for Life was one of the pro-life organizations that joined the brief. Counsel included UFL President Teresa Collett. Tom Berg’s post contains a link to the brief. […]

Categories
Abortion Clinic regulation Constitutionality Court cases

Mississippi abortion case

On July 29, 2014, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit affirmed an injunction preventing enforcement of Mississippi’s law requiring that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Here is a link to a National Right to Life News story on the case.  See http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2014/07/how-and-where-an-appeals-panel-decision-to-strike-down-law-that-would-have-closed-mississippis-last-abortion-clinic-went-wrong/#.U9paA9jjjcs Judge Emilio Garza’s dissent is a persuasive account of the errors […]

Categories
Abortion Conscience protection Court cases

more on Hobby Lobby

Here is a link to a story from LifeNews, http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-rules-obama-admin-cant-make-hobby-lobby-obey-pro-abortion-hhs-mandate/ , and a commentary I did for Aleteia.http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-rules-obama-admin-cant-make-hobby-lobby-obey-pro-abortion-hhs-mandate/ As I explain in more detail in the commentary, “Hobby Lobby is an important, although a limited, victory for religious liberty. The decision is also a decisive rebuke to the Obama Administration’s exceedingly narrow view of religious […]

Categories
Canada Euthanasia International Legislation

Quebec approves euthanasia

Here is LifeNews story reporting on Quebec’s recent approval of voluntary euthanasia. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/05/quebec-approves-bill-legalizing-euthanasia-on-demand/ Here is a link to commentary by Wesley Smith,  http://www.lifesitenews.com/author/wesley_smith/ .  Richard M.

Categories
Abortion Conferences

Roe at 40: The Controversy Continues

The Washington & Lee Law Review just published the papers from the “Roe at 40” conference held at W & L on November 7, 2013. Much of the funding for this conference came from University Faculty for Life (UFL). The conference was largely made possible through the efforts of Sam Calhoun (who is a member of […]

Categories
Abortion Philosophy Religious views

Cardinal Burke’s excellent speech to the Rome Life Forum

Here is a link to an excellent speech given by Cardinal Raymond Burke to the Rome Life Forum on May 3, 2014. The speech is largely a reflection on Pope Saint John Paul II’s great encyclical Evangelium Vitae. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-burke-s-address-to-international-pro-life-conference-in-rome-may-3rd Richard M.

Categories
Abortion Court cases

Alabama Supreme Court ruling protects the unborn

I wanted to call attention to a decision by the Alabama Supreme Court in Ex parte Hicks. Here is link to the LifeNews story on the case.   http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/18/alabama-court-again-rules-unborn-children-deserve-legal-protection/ The case involved an interpretation of Alabama’s chemical endangerment statute, which prohibits exposing a “child” to a controlled substance. In the Hicks case, the Court interpreted “child” to include […]

Categories
Abortion Sex-selection abortion

South Dakota’s ban on sex-selection abortion

Here is a good article by Dave Andrusko on South Dakota’ s ban on sex-selection abortions. http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2014/04/south-dakota-governor-signs-ban-on-sex-selection-abortions/ The article discusses the signifiance of the ban and also effectively rebuts some of the arguments that have been made against these laws. Richard M.

Categories
Abortion Clinic regulation Constitutionality Court cases

5th Circuit upholds Texas pro-life law

Here is a story from LifeNews about the March 27, 2014 ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upholding Texas HB2, which regulates surgical abortions and abortion-inducing drugs.http://www.lifenews.com/2014/03/27/appeals-court-upholds-texas-pro-life-law-wendy-davis-opposed-that-closed-abortion-clinics/ Courtesy of the Bioethics Defense Fund website, here is a link to the excellent opinion by Judge Edith Jones. http://bdfund.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/AbbottAppellateDecision.pdf Richard M.