Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
Political scientist and senior researcher scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
PROFILE
Sue Thomas
Guest
FROM Sue Thomas
Which Way, L.A.?
Abortion Rights and New State Restrictions Last week in Kansas, a federal judge intervened to prevent enforcement of new rules that would have shut down two of that state's three abortion clinics. His injunction will stay in effect until a trial is held. In Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama and South Dakota, legislatures have also enacted tough new restrictions for legal abortions in the past year, with hopes of reaching a newly conservative US Supreme Court. Will abortion become an issue in next year's presidential campaign? Will claims about "fetal pain" change public opinion?
To the Point
Abortion: From State Houses to the Courts, Presidential Campaign Last week, Kansas came close to shutting down all but one of the state's three abortion clinics before a federal court intervened. The injunction will stay in effect until a trial is held. The Kansas legislature joins those of Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama and South Dakota in recently enacting new abortion restrictions in the past year, and anti-abortion supporters also have a litmus test for presidential candidates. The laws are designed to reach the US Supreme Court, more conservative than it was 40 years ago, to modify or even overturn Roe v. Wade . We hear more about new rules, and the argument over when a fetus begins to feel pain.
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