Migration Category: NCWP Old Site

The Supreme Court today issued an 8-0 decision in two related cases first brought by the National Organization for Women (NOW) and two clinics of the National Women’s Health Organization on behalf of virtually all clinics and all women two decades ago. The Supreme Court’s decision in Scheidler, et al., v. NOW, et al. and Operation Rescue v. NOW, et al. lifted a nationwide injunction protecting virtually all women’s health clinics in the nation.

“I initiated this case almost 20 years ago as the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) to stop the reign of terror perpetrated by anti-abortion extremists at clinics across the country. I believe that this lawsuit and its resulting nationwide injunction significantly contributed to reducing the level of violence at clinics. I only hope that the loss of the injunction does not embolden anti-abortion extremists to escalate domestic terrorism towards women’s reproductive health clinics,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

“Anti-abortion extremists, however, should not look at this as a great legal victory. State, local, and federal laws are now in place, such as the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, that have helped to dramatically reduce the level of violence against clinics. Law enforcement officials have made it clear that violence will not be tolerated at our nation’s clinics and that domestic terrorists will be arrested and prosecuted,” Smeal continued. The Feminist Majority, along with the National Organization for Women, helped to draft the FACE Act, which passed in 1994.

“This case was never about protests or pickets – it was about violence and extortion. But without strong protections against clinic assaults, the legal right to abortion could become meaningless. If women are too terrified to walk into clinics and healthcare providers are too terrified to keep their doors open, then we will have lost the fight for reproductive freedom even with Roe v. Wade still on the books,” said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. “We will not let that happen. É[W]e will use the [FACE Act] to its fullest extent in pursuing those who would use violent means to prevent women from making their own reproductive decisions.”

“We did all we could over the years to reduce violence at clinics. We used every legal tool available. Pursuing this case did reduce violence at clinics, and we cannot allow anti-abortion extremists to take this decision as a signal to once again increase violent activity aimed at clinics and clinic staff,” said Susan Hill, president of the National Women’s Health Organization, the owner of the two named clinics in the lawsuit.

LEARN MORE Read a Ms. magazine article on the NOW v. Scheidler case, “Terror in the Name of the Lord”

LEARN MORE Read Eleanor Smeal’s statement on the day the case was argued, November 30, 2005

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In a unanimous ruling Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court granted Attorney General Phill Kline permission to investigate records from abortion clinics, but patients’ names and personal information will be withheld from the records he sees. The case relates to 90 records from 2003 which Kline subpoenaed in 2004. Kline wanted the records to include patients’ names, medical histories, contraceptive histories, and psychological profiles, and to have his office choose a doctor who would review the files for possible evidence of late-term abortions or child abuse, according to Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report. The clinics in question, Comprehensive Health and Women’s Health Care Services, filed a brief last spring to block the subpoena. In response, Kline filed a motion saying that he did not require patients’ names. The Supreme Court’s decision means that the investigation can go on, but that identifying patient information can be withheld, and any information not related to possible legal violations must be eliminated from the records. Furthermore, an independent judge will choose a physician and a lawyer to review the records and remove identifying or irrelevant material before handing them over to Kline.

The court also decided that Kline must now face District Court Judge Richard Anderson to determine if his initial legal reasons for seeking the subpoena were valid. The clinics were pleased with the ruling, as it will allow them to protect patients’ privacy in the face of Kline’s invasive investigation, reports Kaiser.

Also on Friday, Kline testified in a federal case brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) against Kline’s stance that health care workers must report all instances of known sexual activity by people under 16. Kline argues that as Kansas law makes all sexual activity by minors under 16 illegal, all evidence of such activity should be reported as abuse. CRR considered Kline’s reasoning unduly vague, and Peter Brownlie of Planned Parenthood told the Associated Press that clinics routinely report evidence of abuse, but are not required to report consensual sex because they “are required to report only if a patient is injured.” The results of this case about reporting requirements could affect Kline’s inquiry into clinic records by establishing what constitutes evidence of reporting violations or criminal activity.

Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) released last week the results of a survey that found Catholic hospitals were not fully complying with laws requiring emergency contraception be provided to rape victims. The survey was done by Ibis Reproductive Health, on behalf of CFFC, and focused on Catholic hospitals in New York, New Mexico, California and Washington. These states require that sexual assault survivors be told about emergency contraception (EC) and that it be provided by the emergency room upon request. The survey also looked at hospitals in South Carolina, where the state has agreed to pay for emergency room care of sexual assault survivors, including EC. The survey found that in 35 percent of hospitals, those taking patient phone calls said that EC was not available for sexual assault survivors.

In nearly one-third of cases, these statements conflicted not only with state laws, but also with the hospital’s own policies – in other words, the hospital policy indicated that EC be provided, but the individual taking the call responded differently.

The call-in survey indicated another troubling result – 10 to 20 percent of hospitals that provided EC in 2002 now indicate that it is not available under any circumstances. CFFC president Frances Kissling responded to the results, saying, “Hospital administrations have a responsibility to comply with the law, and also have a higher calling to provide care to their patients in need. It seems many are falling down on both counts.”

Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war activist and leader of Gold Star Families for Peace, was arrested last night at the State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt that featured the number of American soldiers who have been killed so far in the Iraq war (2,245). Sheehan’s son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004.

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) had given Sheehan a ticket to watch the speech in the House gallery. “[Sheehan’s arrest] stunned me because I didn’t know in America you could be arrested for wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it É That’s especially so in the Capitol and in the House of Representatives, which is the people’s House,” said Woolsey, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sheehan, Congresswoman Woolsey, and other women leaders of the anti-war movement are featured in the Winter issue of Ms. magazine, on newsstands nationwide.

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The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which expired in September, and was reauthorized by Congress in December, was signed into law by President Bush on Thursday. This will authorize almost $4 billion over the next five years, a 21 percent increase in funding from the 2000 version.

This reauthorization broadens efforts to combat violence against women with more focus on prevention strategies, culturally specific services, and enhanced services for victims with disabilities, and it broadens services to include children and teenagers.

The Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO), the only facility providing abortions in the state of Mississippi, is now waiting for state certification that it adheres to onerous new requirements and can continue to provide abortions after 13 weeks’ gestation. The state license would certify that the clinic meets state ambulatory surgical standards, in accordance with a 2004 law forcing all abortions after the first trimester to be performed in such a facility.

National Women’s Health Organization President Susan Hill says that the facility complies with most requirements, reports the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, but still must work out the required nurse-to-patient ratios and attaining hospital-admittance privileges for the out-of-state doctors who fly in to provide services at the facility. If the clinic does not receive a provisional certification in January, allowing it to provide services while working towards remaining requirements, it will no longer be able to provide abortions after the first trimester.

“We have no intention of leaving and we intend to continue to provide the services that we’re providing,” Hill told the Associated Press. “It won’t be easy, but we’re staying.”

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Patricia Hughes, 24, and Jeremy Dunahoe, 18, were charged on Saturday with the attempted bombing of the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana. Hughes was charged with the manufacture and possession of a delayed incendiary device, and Dunahoe was charged as an accessory to the December 12 attempted firebomb of the women’s health clinic, according to the Shreveport Times.

Security cameras show a female throwing the Molotov cocktail at the clinic around 10:45 p.m. on December 12, as well as a car that was later found parked behind the couple’s residence, according to the Shreveport Times. However, the bomb did not damage the clinic or interrupt services. Both Hughes and Dunahoe have admitted to the attempted firebombing but neither have given an explanation, according to KTBSNews.com.

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The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed by both houses Saturday, authorizing almost $4 billion over the next five years, and now awaits the President’s signature. The compromised version of VAWA was approved as part of the Justice Department budget, passing the Senate on Friday and the House on Saturday. The reauthorization broadens efforts to combat violence against women with more focus on prevention strategies, culturally specific services, and enhanced services for victims with disabilities, and it broadens services to include children and teenagers. The 2005 bill authorizes 21 percent more funding than the version passed in 2000.

“This legislation will go far in providing protection for these women and their families,” Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA) told the Associated Press. The SHIELD Act, sponsored by Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), which exempts domestic violence shelters from providing identifying information to Housing and Urban Development, passed along with the rest of VAWA.

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation to support the work of its National Center for Women and Policing