Friday, April 20, 2007

More on Carhart

Balkinization writes The Big News About Gonzales v. Carhart-- It's the Informed Consent, Stupid. A couple of key quotes:

"Justice Kennedy argues that the government may ban intact D&E because it has the right, under the Casey decision, to ensure that a woman's choice is informed. Kennedy then argues that given a mother's natural love for her child, some women will regret having abortions after the fact. And some women may especially regret having an abortion if they knew the details of the procedure-- intact D&E-- used to perform the abortion. Hence, Kennedy argues, the state may ban that procedure, because it will cause some women not to have abortions, and because it will force doctors to 'find different and less shocking methods to abort the fetus in the second trimester'."

"Thus Kennedy's opinion opens the door for states to pass increasingly unreasonable versions of abortion restrictions designed to frighten, manipulate, and discomfit women under the guise of providing informed consent."

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