U.S. Supreme Court The sudden death by natural causes of Antonin Scalia has left a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Heated controversy has ensued.
Our position, of course, is that President Obama should appoint a consistent-life judge – that being the only kind who can make reasonable judicial decisions, since killing people should be outside the law – and that the Senate should be delighted to confirm her or him quickly.
Such a possibility is, under current conditions, a fantasy. We need to keep working so the day comes when consistent-life justices aren’t a fantasy any more.
As a legal precedent, we offer this marvelous quotation from one of the Founding Fathers and original Supreme Court justices (1789-1798), a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. We ignore the extent to which his legal opinions or actions actually followed suit; the quotation itself goes to the core: "With consistency, beautiful and undeviating, human life from its commencement to its close, is protected by common law. . . . By law it is protected not only from immediate destruction, but from every degree of actual violence." James Wilson, "Lectures on Law," 1791
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The U.S. Military Draft We have a follow-up to last week’s comments on the move to require women to register for the draft, in which we suggested gender equality is better served by extending to men the right to not to be required register. Now a bipartisan bill has been introduced to do exactly that: H.R. 4523, To Repeal the Selective Service Act, was referred to committee on February 10. Our recommendations don’t normally become legislation so quickly! U.S. readers, see the petition in support.
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CL Blog: Women with Disabilities Speak
Unborn children with disabilities are targeted for abortion – what is called “selective” abortion because it has to do with feature of the fetus, who wouldn’t be aborted without those features. Additionally, women with disabilities are treated as people who shouldn’t consider becoming pregnant.
The latest blog posting,Women with Disabilities Speak, is a compilation of reflections on these themes by women with disabilities.
All our blogs are meant to be shared with those who might be interested. In this case, if you know any disabilities-rights activists who might appreciate the information, send it on to them. Or, as always, post the link on Facebook and Twitter.
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Quotation of the Week Lisa Harris, abortion doctor “Second Trimester Abortion Provision: Breaking the Silence and Changing the Discourse” Reproductive Health Matters, May 2008
In general feminism is a peaceful movement. It does not condone violent problem-solving, and opposes war and capital punishment. But abortion is a version of violence. What do we do with that contradiction?
