Daily Women's Health Poicy Recent Reports

National Right to Life Committee Defends Brownback's Talks With Giuliani on Abortion Views

[Oct 30, 2007]

The National Right to Life Committee recently defended Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) after he was criticized for meeting with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, to discuss Giuliani's views on abortion, The Hill reports (Bolton, The Hill, 10/26).

Brownback last week said he is "much more comfortable" with Giuliani's position on abortion after meeting with him in Washington, D.C. Brownback withdrew from the presidential race earlier this month, and some of the Republican candidates have been seeking his endorsement (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/30).

Criticism Against Brownback, NRLC Letter
NRLC in a letter sent to Brownback on Friday pledged to continue supporting him as a leading antiabortion-rights advocate whether he decides to endorse Giuliani for the Republican presidential nomination, The Hill reports. The letter was sent after James Bopp -- general counsel for NRLC and a prominent legal advocate for conservative antiabortion groups -- criticized Brownback over the meeting. Bopp is a volunteer for the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

"Brownback is angling for some personal political benefit by cozying up to Giuliani," Bopp told the blog "Talking Points Memo." Bopp also suggested that Brownback was being partial by meeting with Giuliani and not Romney, adding that his meeting with Giuliani was "surprising in light of his unwillingness to accept Romney's conversion" on abortion issues, "which happened several years ago. Now he's willing to accept Giuliani's statements of the last day or so."

NRLC said that Bopp's remarks, "if accurately reported, do not represent National Right to Life, and we disagree with them." In comments directed toward Brownback, the group said, "All of us who know you personally recognize that your commitment to the pro-life cause is deep and heartfelt. We know this because we have worked shoulder to shoulder with you on such important pro-life issues," including so-called "partial-birth abortion, fetal pain, ultrasound and human cloning." The letter added, "We reject emphatically anyone's suggestion that you have sacrificed or would sacrifice the interests of the unborn in order to garner some 'personal political benefit.'"

Reaction
David O'Steen, executive director of NRLC, said that the purpose of the letter was to clarify that the group does not endorse Bopp's comments. "We wanted to clarify that we have utmost confidence in Mr. Brownback's integrity," he said. O'Steen added that Brownback is a "leader of the pro-life movement because he's taken a leadership role in promoting pro-life policies and leadership positions" and that there is no reason why a meeting or an endorsement would undermine that role. If Brownback supports Giuliani, he "can still support pro-life legislation," O'Steen said. Despite his remarks, O'Steen said he could not see NRLC endorsing Giuliani for president. A senior campaign aide to Brownback said that Brownback meant "nothing more and nothing less" when he offered to meet with all of the Republican presidential candidates (The Hill, 10/30).

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State Politics & Policy

New Jersey Appellate Court Rules Referendum Asking Voters To Approve $450M for Stem Cell Research Should Remain on Ballot

[Oct 30, 2007]

A three-judge panel of a New Jersey appellate court on Friday unanimously ruled that a Nov. 6 referendum that would allow the state to borrow $450 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research in the state should not be removed from the ballot, the New York Times reports (Peters, New York Times, 10/27).

If approved by voters, the funds would be used to award grants to institutions -- including colleges, universities, and state and local government agencies -- that conduct research on both adult and human embryonic stem cells, and umbilical cord blood, according to state Rep. Neil Cohen (D).

The Legal Center for Defense of Life last month filed a lawsuit on behalf of New Jersey Right to Life and 15 New Jersey residents in Trenton, N.J., Superior Court, alleging that the ballot question is deceptive because it does not explain that the borrowed funds would pay for human cloning or that the debt could be repaid with property taxes. The suit sought to stop printing of the ballot and to bar the question from going to voters.

Superior Court Judge Neil Shuster ruled that the referendum must remain on the Nov. 6 ballot. He also rejected the groups' request to delay the printing of ballots for the election, allowing county clerks to begin printing the ballots late last month (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/25).

Ruling, Comments
The panel said that the language on the ballot adequately and fairly informs voters about the proposal (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger, 10/28). In the ruling, Judge Clarkson Fisher wrote that the panel agreed with Shuster's ruling "that plaintiffs were obligated to proceed with greater alacrity than exhibited" and that the plaintiffs' "fear of 'imminent' irreparable injury was without merit because their delay alone created the emergency." Fisher added that the language of the proposal is adequately descriptive and that it would confuse voters if it were rewritten to say the initiative would permit cloning.

He added, "Fairness to the viewpoints on both ends of this debate -- and every other reasonable point in between -- cannot possibly be encapsulated in a brief statement that would fit on a ballot" (New York Times, 10/27). The ruling added that "[f]urther debate" about the initiative and its "moral, fiscal and medical consequences [are] better left to the exchange of ideas and the political efforts of interested citizens."

Marie Tasy, executive director of NJRTL, said the plaintiffs "obviously disagree [with the ruling] and believe legislative sponsors did the voters a great disservice." Corzine said he is pleased with the ruling, adding that he thought the challenge was "misplaced or miscast."

Tasy said the group might appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court (Hester, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/27). According to the Times, if the group does not appeal the ruling before the election, the plaintiffs could challenge the results if voters approve the referendum.

According to a poll released Thursday by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, 57% of New Jersey voters support the initiative, while 36% are opposed, the Times reports (New York Times, 10/27).

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Missouri Gov. Blunt Launches Task Force To Investigate Health Effects of Abortion

[Oct 30, 2007]

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R), an abortion-rights opponent, last week convened a task force to examine the potential physical, emotional, social and economic effects of abortion on women, the AP/Joplin Globe reports. The Governor's Task Force on the Impact of Abortion on Women consists of only abortion opponents who were recruited by two antiabortion advocates, according to the AP/Globe.

Cindy Province -- co-founder of the Center for Bioethics and Culture-Missouri, who was asked by Blunt's administration to help recruit task force members -- said the task force intends to look for "truthful, honest information" from researchers about the procedure's effects on women. She added, "We're trying to get good evidence about the effect of abortion on women and make decisions about what the state can do to help women who find themselves in the situation of an unplanned pregnancy." John McCastle -- president of Alliance for Life-Missouri, who proposed the task force -- said he plans to investigate whether abortion leads to crime, as well as other issues. McCastle said he has read unspecified studies suggesting that a significant majority of female prisoners have had abortions.

"This is a very informal group of good people who believe in advancing the cause of life and believe that we should minimize the impact of abortion on society," Blunt said at a recent press conference. He said that he will begin the task force with the "presumption that abortion has a negative impact on Missouri children, Missouri women, Missouri men, because it's harmful to society." Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that he "doubt[s] this governor is particularly interested in an objective overview of the impact of abortion." Blunt said, "I don't begin with assumption that [task force members] will have significant recommendations, but they very well may" (Lieb, AP/Joplin Globe, 10/28).

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In The Courts

Kansas Supreme Court Delays Grand Jury Investigation of Abortion Provider Tiller To Decide if Panel Should Convene

[Oct 30, 2007]

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday delayed a grand jury investigation of abortion provider George Tiller and his Wichita, Kan.-based clinic until it determines if the panel should convene, the AP/Guardian reports (Manning, AP/Guardian, 10/27). Attorneys for Tiller earlier this month filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to block the grand jury investigation of him and his clinic.

Former Sedgwick County, Kan., Chief Judge Paul Buchanan earlier this month denied a motion filed by Tiller's attorneys that sought to dismiss a petition seeking to convene the grand jury. The antiabortion group Kansans for Life in September delivered the petition, which contained 7,857 signatures, asking the Sedgwick County District Court to convene a grand jury and appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Tiller. Petitioners want the grand jury to examine late-term abortions that Tiller performed during the past five years and the reasons cited for the abortions.

Tiller's attorneys said that he has been investigated several times in the past year and that another grand jury investigation would be "unfair, harassing and bad faith." U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten in September ruled against the motion and suggested Tiller's attorneys refile the motion in state court. If the grand jury is seated, it will conduct at least the fifth investigation of Tiller since 2006, including a pending case in which state Attorney General Paul Morrison (D) has charged Tiller with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly violating a state law that requires an independent, consulting physician to approve some late-term abortions (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26).

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland in response to Tiller's motion, which named Buchanan and Sedgwick County Chief Judge Michael Corrigan as defendants. The decision ordered Buchanan and Corrigan to respond by Nov. 16. There has not been a date set for the court to hear arguments about Tiller's motion (AP/Guardian, 10/27).

The Supreme Court did not disclose many details about its decision but said the review is necessary "by virtue of the unique circumstances of this case and to allow full consideration of the petition" from Tiller.

Reaction
"It is unconscionable to deprive the citizens of Kansas the ability to seek justice in this way," Troy Newman -- president of Operation Rescue, which led the coalition that sought signatures for the petition -- said. Julie Burkhart, director of the abortion-rights group ProKanDo, said, "These grand juries are nothing but a witch hunt," adding, "The process is being exploited by anti-choice activists who wish to take reproductive health care away from women." Lee Thompson, one of Tiller's attorneys, said that the grand jury is a "proceeding brought for harassment and in bad faith by the petition gatherers" (Carroll/Bauer, Kansas City Star, 10/26).

In related news, a coalition of antiabortion groups has submitted a petition to convene a grand jury in Johnson County, Kan., to investigate whether Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri's Overland Park, Kan., clinic Comprehensive Health is complying with state abortion laws, the AP/Guardian reports (AP/Guardian, 10/27).

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Opinion

Massachusetts Bill That Would Expand Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones Provides 'Reasonable Balance,' Editorial Says

[Oct 30, 2007]

A Massachusetts bill that would expand abortion clinic buffer zones from 18 feet to 35 feet provides a "reasonable balance that reasonable people will support," a Boston Globe editorial says (Boston Globe, 10/30).

The state Senate passed the bill last week by voice vote. The current law, which was passed in 2000, requires protesters to stay at least six feet away from clinic employees and patients and establishes an 18-foot zone within which individuals may not interact with clinic visitors or staff for the purpose of counseling or protesting. The measure now heads to the House, where at least 75 lawmakers have said they support it (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/25).

According to the Globe, the original law was "so vague as to be nearly unenforceable." The editorial states that Massachusetts "needs clear legislation to protect the free-speech rights of protesters while ensuring that women can exercise their own rights to reproductive health care."

The editorial calls for the House to "swiftly" pass the bill, adding, "No one, including the protesters, is helped by a law that is so unclear it is hard to obey or enforce. ... The bill protects public safety, medical privacy and free speech" (Boston Globe, 10/30).

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