McClatchy: Abortion decision could pave way for more restrictions

[babylonsister]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17286157.htm

Abortion decision could pave way for more restrictions
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Every Supreme Court opinion has an afterlife, especially when it comes to abortion.

A closely watched decision last month upholding a federal ban on so-called partial birth abortions is just starting to populate the legal landscape. It will take years for all the Gonzales v. Carhart consequences to reveal themselves fully, but some implications are coming into focus.

States can try out new pre-abortion requirements, including anti-abortion messages to pregnant women. Some specific techniques might be targeted. New kinds of hurdles may be erected. As long as they can't be considered an "undue burden" on many women, the rules might survive.

Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed to bless many such efforts in his 39-page majority opinion in Carhart, which was issued April 18.

"The state's interest in respect for life is advanced by the dialogue that better informs the political and legal systems, the medical profession, expectant mothers and society as a whole of the consequences that follow from a decision to elect a late-term abortion," Kennedy wrote.

In other words: The court will look kindly on states that require a "dialogue" about abortion with pregnant women. Shaping the content of that dialogue will be one goal of anti-abortion advocates.

"I think that this means that a vast array of regulations are likely to be upheld," Duke Law School Professor Erwin Chemerinsky predicted. "Certainly this will embolden states to adopt more laws regulating abortions."

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