[dc-zaps] Protest Abortion Procedure Ban at Supreme Court this Wednesday

Protest Abortion Procedure Ban at the Supreme Court on Wednesday

Please join us to show your support for women's reproductive rights as the Supreme Court weighs the legality of the first ever federal ban on an abortion procedure.

WHO:	National Organization for Women, Feminist Majority Foundation, National Council of Women's Organizations, and other reproductive rights supporters
WHAT:	Rally to oppose the abortion procedures ban and defend women's reproductive rights
WHEN:	Wednesday, November 8, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:	United States Supreme Court One First Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20543 Directions: On First St. NE, three blocks north of Capitol South Metro Station or four blocks south of Union Station.
WHY:	The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of a federal abortion procedures ban (the so-called partial birth abortion ban, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2003).

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will, in two separate cases, consider the constitutionality of the same federal abortion procedure ban -- a law identical in effect to the Nebraska ban that was struck down by the Court in 2000 because it didn't protect women's health. We will soon learn whether the High Court's two newest justices are as devoted to precedent as they say they are, or whether their visceral opposition to abortion will lead them to overturn a clear precedent after only six years.

One of the cases, Gonzales v. Carhart, concerns the same doctor, the same state, and the same issues as did Stenberg v. Carhart in 2000, when Dr. Leroy Carhart challenged a Nebraska law that banned certain vaguely-defined abortion procedures without including any exception for a woman whose health is at risk.

The Court's narrow 5-4 opinion in that 2000 case found the law unconstitutional. The outcome in this case could be different because now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who cast the deciding vote in Stenberg, has been replaced by an opponent of abortion.

That precedent in Stenberg was the reason three federal courts of appeal have declared this federal ban unconstitutional as well. The other case being heard on Wednesday is an appeal from one of those circuit court decisions.

Not only will we find out whether our new justices are committed to "stare decisis" and settled law -- as Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito assured senators they are -- but we will also see whether their opposition to abortion means they will force doctors to violate their Hippocratic oath, putting the desires of Congress above their medical duty to put their patients' health first.

"This isn't the first time Congress has tried to practice medicine without a license, but if this ban is upheld, it will be the first time the Supreme Court has allowed them to do so," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "Will Congress be allowed to deprive you of the medical procedure your doctor says is safest for your particular circumstances?"

Please join us outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning. Bring your own sign if you have one, and we will have extras on hand.

See you there!

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