"For today, the women of this Nation still retain the liberty to control their destinies. But the signs are evident and very ominous, and a chill wind blows."
Justice Harry Blackmun Webster v Reproductive Health 1989
Yesterday at work, I logged onto Westlaw and printed out the decision and dissent for Gonzalez v Carhart and read every word. Justice Kennedy speaks of the fragility of women and the need to protect them from future regret. Please, Justice Kennedy, I have credit cards with high limits that I may use to make impulse purchases I cannot afford. Could you please come cut up my credit cards for me? Protect me from that regret?
As a woman, I am capable of making decisions for my own health. Yet, in America, I may not fully exercise autonomy over my being. This decision does not ban abortion, in fact it does not save one fetus from extinction. It merely limits women's options. And that is exactly the point. Five Catholic justices, distaining what can be a life-saving procedure for certain women in very specific circumstances, because it is "too icky" for them.
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