Ohio Passes Controversial Conscience Clause for Doctors
Opposed by LGBT and pro-choice advocacy groups, the measure allows doctors to refuse to perform treatments on moral grounds
Abortion
Why Didn't COVID-19 Kill the Constitution?
We can thank judges who were prepared to enforce constitutional limits on public health powers.
Government Action and Constitutional Rights
When (1) states seek to protect abortion rights / gun rights / speech rights against private restriction, and (2) Congress seeks to encourage such private restrictions by preempting the state law protections, might such federal preemption violate the Constitution?
No Heckler's Veto: Court Reverses $1.5M Nuisance Verdict Against Abortion Clinic, Which Was Chiefly Based on Actions of Protesters and Arsonists
A new decision from the Georgia Court of Appeals.
80 Percent of Americans Say Abortion Should Sometimes Be Legal
Plus: Columbus cops charged over treatment of protesters, Biden cancels Trump's TikTok ban, and more...
Sherif Girgis on the Supreme Court's Options in the Next Abortion Case
There are "Two Obstacles to (Merely) Chipping Away at Roe in Dobbs," he writes
The 'One-Child' Policy Was Tyrannical in Theory and Brutally Oppressive in Practice
For decades, Western apologists downplayed the horrific consequences of China’s reproductive restrictions..
Will Pro-Life Politicians Face a Backlash If the Supreme Court Lets Them Restrict Abortion?
National surveys obscure large regional variations in public opinion about abortion limits.
Anyone Who 'Aids or Abets' Abortion Could Be Sued Under New Texas 'Heartbeat Bill'
Plus: Death penalty proposed for Atlanta massage parlor shooter, judge tosses Google antitrust suit, and more...
HHS Blames Trump Policy for 180,000 Unplanned Pregnancies
Plus: Clarity on Adam Toledo's death, Big Tech antitrust bill approved by House Democrats, and more...
FDA Reverses Course on Abortion Drugs by Mail
Plus: Legal battle over published arrest records, senators introduce cruise ship legislation, and more...
6th Cir. Upholds Ban on Doctors Performing Abortions Knowing the Reason Is Down Syndrome
The 9-7 en banc ruling appears to rest on the ban applying on to doctors who know the woman's reason; women could apparently still get such abortions if they don't disclose the reason.
Judge Halts Ohio Law Requiring Burial or Cremation of Aborted Fetuses
Plus: Copyright case a win for Google and fair use, California considering repeal of its "loitering with intent to commit prostitution" law, and more...
The Right to an Abortion Isn't Going Away
While overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to new restrictions in many states, legal access to abortion would be unaffected in most of the country.
Arkansas Governor Hopes Abortion Ban Will Trigger Roe v. Wade Challenge
Plus: Wisconsin may approve microschools, what will Biden Title IX guidance look like, and more...
Supreme Court Ends Pandemic Permission To Prescribe Abortion Pills Remotely
Plus: Amazon responds to Parler lawsuit, Trump's execution spree continues, a bad ruling on safe injection houses, and more...
CNA Editor's Desk
Parsing issues at the intersection of current affairs and the world's largest religious denomination is no easy task.
Heckler's Veto: $1.5 Million Nuisance Verdict Against Abortion Clinic, Chiefly Based on Actions of Protesters and Arsonists
The same logic could apply when churches, synagogues, mosques, bookstores, gun stores, fur stores, and similar places are targeted by their enemies. We've filed an amicus brief before the Georgia Court of Appeals, in support of getting the verdict reversed.
Tennessee Can Enforce Ban on Abortion Based on Sex, Race, or Down Syndrome Status of Fetus
Plus: More losses for the Trump campaign, a win for cannabis delivery services, a ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy violates First Amendment rights, and more...
Justice Samuel Alito Highlights the Legal Issues Raised by 'Previously Unimaginable' COVID-19 Restrictions
When "fundamental rights are restricted" during an emergency, he says, the courts "cannot close their eyes."
12 Good Things That Might Happen Today, None of Which Involve Trump or Biden
American voters have the chance to usher in a few libertarian policies this election, courtesy of these state ballot measures.
Courts Should Check 'Majority Rule'
Democrats and Republicans agree on that point, although they disagree about what it means in practice.
Divided Sixth Circuit Upholds Kentucky Abortion Regulations
The Sixth Circuit joins the Eighth Circuit in recognizing the import of Chief Justice Roberts' controlling opinion in June Medical Services
No, Amy Coney Barrett Isn't Part of a 'Dark Money' Plot To Overturn Gay Marriage and Abortion
Such theories are not based in fact.
Supreme Court Won't Intervene (Yet) To Stop Abortion Pills From Being Prescribed Remotely
Plus: Trump says he plans to hold rallies despite lack of negative COVID-19 test, Biden won't answer question on court-packing, and more...
The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Future of the Supreme Court
What's next for SCOTUS?
SCOTUS Contender James Ho Combines Respect for Free Speech and Gun Rights With a Troubling Deference to Cops
The 5th Circuit judge is a mixed bag from a libertarian perspective.
Kamala Harris' Limited Vision of Religious Liberty
The presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee offers a highly circumscribed notion of the role of faith in public life.
Kanye West Launches a Presidential Campaign of Christian Morality
The hip-hop star's wild, disjointed presentation offers both red meat and poison for right, left, and libertarian.
Telemedicine Abortion Gets Green Light From Federal Court
Plus: "Heartbeat law" ruled unconstitutional, introducing the Atlas of Surveillance, Brave New World reimagined, and more...
John Roberts Just Annoyed Everybody. Is He the New Anthony Kennedy?
The chief justice has managed to infuriate every major political faction.
Touching Your Phone While Driving Is Now Illegal in Idaho, Illinois, and Indiana
Plus: More (bad, weird, and occasionally good) new state laws that start taking effect today.
Partisan Hypocrisy on Display in Supreme Court Ruling on Anti-Prostitution Pledge and the First Amendment
Can the government compel speech? For Supreme Court justices, that seems to depend on the content of that speech.
Supreme Court Declares Another Abortion Law Unconstitutional
Plus: More states pause reopening, Oregon measure to legalize psilocybin moves forward, and more...
Why John Roberts Joined the Supreme Court's Democratic Appointees in an Abortion Case
Roberts dissented in 2016 when SCOTUS struck down an abortion law. What changed this time around?
With Chief in Charge, SCOTUS Strikes Down Louisiana Abortion Law and Eliminates CFPB Independence (Updated)
The Chief Justice provides the pivotal vote in the June Medical Services abortion case and Seila Law v. CFPB.
3 Supreme Court Cases to Watch This Month
The justices weigh abortion, school choice, and federal anti-discrimination law.
Did Louisiana Enact a Bogus Health Law as a Pretext for Banning Abortion?
The Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a Louisiana law that requires physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
Eighth Circuit Reinstates Arkansas Rule Delaying "Non-Medically-Necessary" Procedures, Including Most Abortions
But the ban might still be blocked as to women who are far enough along in their pregnancies that delaying an abortion would make it illegal.
The Case for "Regular" Judicial Review of Coronavirus Emergency Policies
Legal scholars Lindsay Wiley and Steve Vladeck explain why courts should not give special deference to the government in cases challenging the constitutionality of anti-coronavirus policies.
Abortion Providers Plead With Supreme Court To Allow Abortion Pills in Texas
"Delaying abortions by weeks does nothing to further the State's interest in combatting COVID-19," they say.
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas's Epidemic-Related Abortion Restrictions, EXCEPT …
"any patient who, based on the treating physician's medical judgment, would be past the legal limit for an abortion in Texas ... on April 22, 2020" (the date until which the Texas restrictions suspend abortions) remains able to get an abortion, despite the restrictions.
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas Ban That Banned "Non-Essential" Medical Procedures, Including Most Abortions
But the ban might still be blocked as to women who are far enough along in their pregnancies that delaying an abortion would make it illegal.
Sixth Circuit Declines to Reinstate Ohio Limit on "Non-Essential" Abortions
On appeal, Ohio interpreted the limit (part of a temporary ban on all "non-essential" surgeries and procedures) as not banning abortions when "any delay will jeopardize the woman's right to obtain an abortion," but only as delaying earlier-term abortions that can be delayed—but it apparently hadn't made that argument in the trial court.
COVID-Era Abortion Bans Blocked in 3 States—For Now
Plus: "Netflix for 3-D guns," viral authoritarianism, COVID-19 behind bars, and more…
