Views Vary on Chances for New Abortion Restrictions
Abortion-rights opponents in California said the Legislature is unlikely to pursue new restrictions on the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a federal ban on a late-term abortion method, the Oakland Tribune reports (Richman, Oakland Tribune, 4/20).
President Bush in 2003 signed the ban on the extraction and dilation abortion procedure into law. The ruling by the Supreme Court overturned the rulings of three appeals courts (California Healthline, 4/19).
Camille Giglio, director of the California Right to Life Committee, said "as long as there is a Democratic majority in the [California] Legislature and a governor who ... isn't unfriendly toward the abortion people, I don't think we'll have too much power in the state of California to do anything legislatively."
Giglio said abortion-rights opponents should "do whatever we can to go directly to the people" and possibly build support for another ballot measure requiring parental notification or consent before minors can undergo abortions.
Voters in 2005 and 2006 rejected parental notification measures.
Don Sebastiani, a former state lawmaker and major contributor to the campaigns in favor of parental notification, said the Supreme Court ruling "coupled with a number of other things do kind of suggest that progress is being made" toward parental notification and other abortion restrictions (Oakland Tribune, 4/20).
Three broadcast programs recently reported on issues related to last week's Supreme Court ruling.
- KPBS' "Full Focus": The program on Friday included a discussion about the ruling with KPBS health correspondent Kenny Goldberg ("Full Focus," KPBS, 4/20). Video of the segment will be available online Monday afternoon. In addition, "Full Focus" on Thursday reported on reaction from abortion-rights supporters and physicians in San Diego. The segment includes comments from Vince Hall of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties, and William Golden, past chair of the ethics committee of the American College of Physicians (Faryon, "Full Focus," KPBS, 4/19). A transcript and video of the segment are available online.
- KQED's "Forum": The first hour of the program on Monday included a discussion about the legal history of abortion. Guests on the program included Cynthia Gorney, a professor of journalism at UC-Berkeley, and Vikram Amar, a professor of law at the UC Hastings College of Law (Krasny, "Forum," KQED, 4/23). Additional information about the segment is available online. Audio of recent broadcasts is available online.
- KQED's "The California Report": "The California Report" on Thursday reported on the potential impact of the ruling on abortion services in California. The segment includes comments from Philip Darney, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at San Francisco General Hospital and UC-San Francisco; Eve Gartner, deputy director of litigation and law at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Anne Foster Rosales, chief medical officer for Bay Area Planned Parenthood; and Jeanne Conry, California vice chair for the American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (Varney, "The California Report," KQED, 4/19). Audio of the complete broadcast is available online.