Overturning the ban would have had a real impact on our servicewomen's lives. Because of the ban, women who are stationed overseas who need abortions are forced either to attempt to obtain care in a local medical facility in the country in which they are stationed or to travel to a medical facility in the United States or in another country. Even in countries where abortion is legal, local health facilities are sometimes inadequate, unsafe or lack trained medical personnel. Servicewomen who must travel to obtain abortion care are required to clear the leave time with their superiors, forcing them to disclose information about private medical decisions. Their superior officers may delay or refuse to grant leave even though each week of delay increases the potential health risks.
In a disturbing development, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix is pressuring one of the nation's largest hospital systems to stop providing life-saving abortions. This extreme stance by the diocese was made public yesterday after the media published a vitriolic letter that the Bishop of Phoenix, Thomas Olmsted, wrote to Catholic Healthcare West (CHW).
"They treat us just like guinea pigs when it comes to Indian Health Services." That's how one woman on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation described the birth of her second child. She is not alone. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of South Dakota filed a Freedom of Information of Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Indian Health Services (IHS), seeking information about the provision of reproductive health care services to the women of the Cheyenne River Sioux.
In the past four years, more than 20 women in Alabama have been prosecuted for no other reason than that they tried to continue their pregnancies while struggling with addiction. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals, urging that court to reverse the conviction of one of these women, Amanda Kimbrough.
On June 10 we published a blog post called “Facts vs. Fiction on the Military’s Abortion Ban.” In this piece, we were responding to misinformation about efforts by the Senate Armed Services Committee that we strongly support to remove the ban on private funding for abortions on military bases. It looks like we have a little more misinformation to respond to.
A year ago on Memorial Day, we lost a true friend to women and a true American hero: Dr. George Tiller. While Dr. Tiller's death was violent and borne of hate, we know — from the witness of his patients and family — that he lived a life of love, compassion, and courage.
The person who murdered Dr. Tiller, Scott Roeder, never once denied that he killed Dr. Tiller; he admitted to years of planning and to finally stalking Dr. Tiller to his church on May 31, 2009, and shooting him there, in front of friends and family, as he handed out programs for that Sunday's church service. But in spite of all that, Roeder still argued that he should be found to be less culpable — that he should be treated more leniently for his crime. Make no mistake: Roeder was not arguing that the killing was an accident, that he misunderstood the circumstances in the church that morning, or that he was suffering from mental illness or delusion at the time of the shooting. Roeder was arguing that he was less culpable for Dr. Tiller's murder because he honestly believes that the constitution should not protect the right to abortion. In other words, that vigilantism is ok if you really mean it.
Last December, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix saved a young woman’s life. The woman, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was suffering from pulmonary hypertension, a condition that her doctors said carried a near-certain risk of death unless she ended the pregnancy. The nurse who authorized the life-saving abortion, Sister Margaret Mary McBride, a Catholic nun with 34 years experience in health care management, was rewarded with a demotion.
On Monday, a Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed the ACLU's challenge to the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act; a law that prevents teens from having an abortion unless they notify a parent or go to court. We are obviously tremendously disappointed in the decision. For what it's worth, the judge didn't seem too happy about it either.
In the past four years, more than 20 women in Alabama have been prosecuted for no other reason than that they tried to continue their pregnancies while struggling with addiction. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama submitted a 
Last December, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix saved a young woman’s life. The woman, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was suffering from pulmonary hypertension, a condition that her doctors said carried a near-certain risk of death unless she ended the pregnancy. The nurse who authorized the life-saving abortion, Sister Margaret Mary McBride, a Catholic nun with 34 years experience in health care management, was rewarded with a demotion.