What will a rulling against Roe really do.

[Swede]

Is abortion OK in Virginia but a felony in North Carolina?

[Skittles]

1. it means only the wealthy can access abortions

just the way hypocrite conservatives want it

[Swede]

7. How can you be a felon in one state but a ok in the next>

This is not logical.

[Charlie Brown]

11. I agree

If I were a SC Justice, I would argue that abortion should be legal because state bans interfere w/inter-state commerce. Otherwise, there's simply a chaoitic checkerboard where abortion doctors can and can't operate legally.

[mtnester]

20. In Ohio, when the proposed law in committee comes out and abortions

become illegal in Ohio, the law pending would also make it illegal for an Ohio resident to go out of state to get an abortion once they become illegal in Ohio.

And Ohio's law would make no exceptions for rape, incest, etc.

[Demeter]

24. That Sounds A Lot Like Prison--or Slavery==or Both

The whole idea of making abortion unavailable is insupportable from every angle. Unfortunately, that has never stopped a bunch of idiots before. There isn't one technological genie that's been forced back into the bottle since civilization began. We're still fighting slavery in this country and around the world. Nuclear holocaust is always minutes away. Murder is nothing special, and war never ends.

[alarimer]

29. That would be unconstitutional

You cannot restrict a person's right to travel for any reason. Besides, it is probably unenforceable.

[mtnester]

35. True, but if Roe v Wade is overturned, it would fall under some dumb thing

like interstate crime. Probably unenforceable yes...but, the day will come when your every damn move is tracked. Once RFID tracks the fact that you are pregnant, then leave the state, and are pregnant no more....in the future for sure, but not THAT far in the future methinks.

Once states start making their own rules, who is to stop them?

[in_cog_ni_to]

39. O-M-G! You mean to tell me they cannot go to another state where abortion

is LEGAL? WTF? How the hell could they possibly enforce that? How do they know who is pregnant and who isn't pregnant? Will the Ohio government get reports from doctors when someone is preganant? How on EARTH can they enforce that IDIOTIC law? and NO EXCEPTIONS for rape and incest? O-M-G! THAT is sick!

[mtnester]

40. Yeah it is, and it is waiting in the wings...it will be the one that goes

to SCOTUS to challenge (at least that is what my ears were burning up with a few months back by the Ohio Lege)

[in_cog_ni_to]

41. Have they said how they plan on enforcing that idiotic law?

It's IMPOSSIBLE to enforce that.

[mtnester]

42. No....again, I do not know how they would do it until technology

gets more ingrained...and that could move quickly if they want. Whole can of constitutional conflicts to do it as well.

If we do not take back part of congress in 2006, and win outright in 08, look for RFID to rule your life....if we do NOT get this constitutional crisis of spying on US citizens illegally, then get ready to give it ALL up.

[dsc]

36. that happens all the time

Sodomy was a felony in 14 states until 2003, medical marijuana made possession and use of marijuana legal in about 10 states while it remained a crime in the rest, some states prohibit former felons from voting while others don't.

[villager]

2. it'll throw it back to the states -- so, it stays legal on the coasts

Question is whether Red States will make it a felony to "cross state lines" to get an abortion, etc...

[pinkpops]

6. Thats what the "moderate" Republicans are saying but

we could always have a new SC ruling that the fetus has US Constitutional rights.

[Charlie Brown]

8. that would mean that ALL abortion and stem-cell research is illegal

Even if the life of the mother was at stake. Even Alito is not that insane.

[villager]

17. well, we could, I guess, but that would be another "Ft. Sumter" moment

and the djinn, at that point, couldn't be put back in the bottle by the rightwing...

[bunkerbuster1]

31. There'd be nothing stopping a wingnut Congress from criminalizing it.

I hate the "it throws the matter back to the states" bullshit line of argument.

There'd be nothing stopping the Federal Government from outlawing elective abortions if Roe were overturned. I'm not saying it'd happen, necessarily, but the possibility is there.

[Charlie Brown]

3. overturning 'Roe will actually force the gov't to subsidize abortion mvmts

When a court ruling puts people out of business, they're going to want compensation (and rightly so).

[marylanddem]

4. It means the stigma of unwed pregnancy will return,

there will be backalley abortions and rich women will have the same access they always had.

[shraby]

5. While the poor women will die.

[Ioo]

9. Allows States to outlaw abortion...

It would allow states to outlaw abortion, not all states would I am sure

[Orangepeel]

10. pretty much. unless a federal law against it is passed

I'm not sure about VA in particular, but in many states it will become a felony to provide an abortion.

A federal law banning abortion probably won't pass (right wing politicians will be able to use "states rights" as cover), but it will be introduced.

on edit: here is a list of current state laws from a google search (I can't vouch for it's accuracy)

http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/stablw.htm

GENERAL ABORTION BANS

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have never repealed restrictive laws ruled unconstitutional by Roe v. Wade (AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, DE, DC, MA, MI, MS, NH, NM, OK, TX, VT, WV, WI). Two states (LA, UT) and the Territory of Guam enacted "test" laws prohibiting most abortions after the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. In 1992, the Court's ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, held that a general abortion ban would fail Constitutional muster under the new "undue burden" test. In 1992 and 1993, respectively, the Court declined to review the cases striking down the laws of Guam and Louisiana. Utah did not appeal a lower court's decision finding its 1991 abortion ban unconstitutional.

POST-VIABILITY ABORTION BANS

Forty states and the District of Columbia have laws banning most post-viability abortions (AL, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY).

[marylanddem]

12. Before Roe, states in early 1970's began legalizing it -- like New York,

California...I guess they could go back to making it illegal entirely.

[gumby]

13. A ruling against Roe will make women second-class citizens.

The government can not have property-rights over women's autonomy without women becoming lesser-than males.

[peace frog]

14. If Roe is overturned

be prepared for news of many newborn babies abandoned in dumpsters, toilets etc which, of course, is a crime in every state so the unfortunate mother can be arrested and convicted for child endangerment. That will teach those wanton hussies the error of their wicked ways!

In some states it is legal to give a baby to a fire department or hospital within the first three days of life with no penalty, which shows a touch of humanity in an otherwise brutal circumstance. However, not every woman can take advantage thereby putting themselves at risk of incarceration.

[sasquatch]

15. It means the Republicans will lose half their voters and campaign money

EOM

[bunkerbuster1]

32. We can only hope.

Of course that's my hope, that there would be a serious silver lining to an overturn of Wade by a fundie-friendly SCOTUS in the form of a massive voter revolt against this civil rights atrocity. But I've been astonished by how sheeplike the American public has been as other rights have been mashed into the meat grinder, so who knows how they'd really react.

[The Traveler]

16. The real target is the right to privacy itself

Anti-abortionists in "finding no right to privacy in the Constitution" unwittingly serve the purposes of the would be tyrants who would, for their own profit, undermine the foundations of Americanism. Once it is established that there is no right to privacy, all manner of governmental and corporate intrusion into our lives becomes possible. Indeed, it can be argued that without privacy, there can be no liberty.

Tyrants know this intuitively. It is a characteristic of all tyrants that they allow their subjects little or no privacy. Need I ennumerate the domestic tactics of the Soviet Union to remind you that many of those practices are becoming common place here?

[gumby]

19. Without privacy, there can be no liberty.

Great line that should be used often.

[Neil Lisst]

18. Swede, you ask a good question.

Roe v. Wade was important because it established a constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion. Until then, it had been a STATE issue, so each jurisdiction had laws which completely ruled the issue. As a result, in many states abortions were illegal. In some states, even helping someone leave her state was illegal.

If Roe is overruled, control will go back to the states. This will surely mean vicious fights in every state legislature over abortion rights, as those who want to stop them will attack.

Some states will retain the right to get abortions, but every state will have pressure to limit the rights women have. This is a critical line in the sand, and it's time for our party to stand up for women and their reproductive rights. If we can't filibuster this cause, what IS sufficient to justify it?

[gumby]

21. The States determined who was a slave too.

If a person is property in one State, then how does that person achieve equal standing in the United States?

When women's reproductive organs become State Property, what part of that woman is NOT State Property?

"Gee, I'd really like to give you that job, but the State makes you a company liability because you'll just get pregnant and leave."

[Neil Lisst]

22. you're preaching to the choir

But the difference is that it took a constitutional amendment, specifically the 13th, to outlaw slavery, whereas it took a Supreme Court decision - which can be overturned by 5 of 9 Justices - to outlaw the prohibition on abortion.

[cali]

23. Don't hold your breath

Roe won't be overturned anytime soon. SCOTUS will continue to narrow the scope of Roe under O'Connor's idiotic undue burden test. Hundreds of rulings that make obtaining an abortion difficult have been allowed to stand over the past 20 years. Know how many clinics there are in Mississippi that perform abortions? 1. And there's a 24 hour waiting period as well. If you're a woman of limited means, abortion there is not much of an option. And it's not only Mississipi.

But the rethugs aren't stupid. Those in power don't want to overturn Roe. They know it's political suicide. Even if they were that stupid, there are still 5 votes to uphold. No way is Kennedy going to vote to overturn.

Griswold is safe. No state, not even the bloody reddest has proposed revisiting the issue.

The danger of this court lies not in any shocking reversals but in the insidious narrowing of individual rights and the even more pernicious expansion of executive power.

If you're the right wing and you want to get away with changing the fabric of this country, you follow the cold water, insert frog, turn up the heat model.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

25. Pro-Lifers already travel to get their (secret) abortions...

....so nothing will change for them.

[Broke In Jersey]

26. I hope they overturn Roe v Wade ASAP!

The blue state America will continue to allow abortions but with a whole lot less restrictions than even now. While red states will all of a sudden have it illegal. What will happen next??? You will see a hell of a lot of converts to our side and a lock on the white house for decades. Maybe an end to the rep party too.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. Rather than overturn, they will chip away at it.

"Late term abortions", "Spousal notification", "Parental notification", etc.

[lukasahero]

34. I think you mean they "are chipping" away at it.

And I totally agree. They won't have to overturn it once there's nothing left of it.

[H2O Man]

28. Roe v Wade will not be overturned

any time in the near future. Alito on the court wouldn't create the numbers needed to overturn it. However, he will be the vote needed to put restrictions in place, and these will likely start in some republican states. Still, there is reason to expect that even a democratic state like PA will follow the lead on restrictions. The most likely restrictions would be in regard to late term abortions, and on the access minors have to abortion. There is more evidence that these issues will be addressed, rather than those based on "income."

[Jim__]

30. The basis for Roe is a constitutional right to privacy.

From the decision:

3. State criminal abortion laws, like those involved here, that except from criminality only a life-saving procedure on the mother's behalf without regard to the stage of her pregnancy and other interests involved violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects against state action the right to privacy, including a woman's qualified right to terminate her pregnancy. Though the State cannot override that right, it has legitimate interests in protecting both the pregnant woman's health and the potentiality of human life, each of which interests grows and reaches a "compelling" point at various stages of the woman's approach to term. Pp. 147-164. more

So, the court would have to rule that we do not have a constitutional right to privacy. Personally, I would consider that a disaster for personal freedom within the US.

[bunkerbuster1]

33. Amen to that. Let's see overturning Roe for what it would be--

an abortion of civil rights.

[SoCalDem]

37. It means that not long after it "ends"

women will need permission from their husband to get birth control
unmarried women will have to lie to get birth control..or get them illegally
medical student will be "practicing" long before they graduate

the fetus worshipers will be even bolder than they are now..:(

rich girls will still get their "appendectomies", D & c's, and have their "female troubles" tended to....as they always have

[bleedingheart]

38. Women will die.