Oppressing womens rights the way they know best...
change federal laws to starve programs that funded
reproductive rights, cut funding, and "sue" any women
who tries to challenge bad policy. The hostility toward
women in this administration is outrageous, we've lost
our reproductive rights, which are now set by the rule
of religious fanatics.
To those men that think they can get away with these
policies, I say, there can be no peace without respect.
Women will not stand for this.
to the battlegounds ladies! And, all you fine men that
support a women's right to govern their own body...
stand with the women against these hostile policies,
we need you.
wuli
"irrational at best and cruel at worst"
Court Rules U.S. Need Not Pay for Abortion of Doomed Fetus
August 19, 2005
nytimes.com
By DEAN E. MURPHY
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18 - While suggesting that its decision might seem "callous and unfeeling," a federal appeals court here ruled Thursday that the Navy need not pay for an abortion received by a sailor's wife, even though doctors said the fetus had a birth defect and could not survive.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit came in the case of a 23-year-old woman who lives in Bremerton, Wash. Her name was not disclosed.
The woman terminated her pregnancy in 2002 after she learned that her fetus had no forebrain or cerebellum, a fatal condition known as anencephaly. Because her husband was in the Navy, the woman was covered under the military's health plan, the Civilian Health and Medical Program for the Uniformed Services, or Tricare.
But Tricare administrators said they were barred from paying for the abortion. Federal law prohibits payment for abortions except "where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term." A regulation putting the law into effect specifically excludes payments for situations involving "fetal abnormalities" and mentions anencephaly.
Lisa M. Stone, who represents the woman, said she and her husband had an annual income of less than $20,000 and could not afford the charge of about $3,000 for the abortion. The couple sued, and in 2002 a judge ordered Tricare to cover the costs, allowing the abortion to go forward.
The government appealed to get its money back from the couple. Though lawyers for the Justice Department did not dispute the diagnosis of anencephaly, they argued that the Congressional restriction furthered the government's interest in protecting human life and warned against a "slippery slope" if courts tried to determine which abnormalities warranted an abortion.
Ms. Stone, the executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center in Seattle, said the government's argument was "irrational at best and cruel at worst" because everyone agreed there was no chance that a fetus with anencephaly could survive or even attain consciousness.
In hearing the appeal, the three judges of the Ninth Circuit said the essence of the dispute was settled by the United States Supreme Court 25 years ago in Harris v. McRae. In that case, the court upheld legislation that forbids payment for abortions under the Medicaid program except when the mother's life is in danger. |
