Man Slams Ex for Aborting His Baby—Via Billboard

(NEWSER) - President Obama is enacting a ghastly brace of pro-choice policies, including weakening "conscience protections" for doctors and adopting the “most radical possible option” on stem cell research, Michael Gerson writes for the Washington Post. And enlisting a Catholic—HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius—to help implement his agenda “smacks of religious humiliation,” writes Gerson, “like asking a rabbi to serve pork roast.” More»

Bill would make facility's doctors ineligible to work there

(NEWSER) - Mississippi has just one abortion clinic, and a bill that's passed the state legislature would likely close it. All it needs now is a governor's signature, and Phil Bryant has said he'll provide it. Under the bill, doctors performing abortions in an "abortion facility" would have to have local hospital admitting privileges—which only one of the doctors at the clinic has. More»

Strict ultrasound law unconstitutional: judge

(NEWSER) - An Oklahoma judge has struck down a state law requiring women seeking abortions to have ultrasounds. The district judge decided the law—which required doctors to put an image of the ultrasound in front of the woman and give her a detailed description of the fetus—was unconstitutional because it violated doctors' First Amendment rights by forcing them to essentially read speech written by lawmakers, reports Jezebel . The statute is a "special law" that treats abortion differently than other medical procedures, the judge noted. More»

Some worry providers could be targeted

(NEWSER) - A bill under consideration in Tennessee would reveal the names of doctors who perform abortions, and could even inadvertently identify women who undergo the procedure, activists worry. Abortion providers currently have to record information about each patient, which the state's Department of Health collects. The Life Defense Act of 2012 would require that the info be published online. Proponents say it would increase the flow of information about abortions in the state; opponents say its real purpose is to intimidate doctors who perform abortions and the women who seek them. Activists fear the bill could endanger doctors, including those who are not abortion specialists but who perform the procedure during emergencies or miscarriages. More»

Surprise 24-14 vote follows Capitol protests

(NEWSER) - Virginia's state Senate made a surprise about-face yesterday: In a 24-14 vote, lawmakers effectively placed the so-called "personhood" bill, which declared that a person's rights begin from the moment sperm meets egg, on ice for the rest of 2012. Earlier that day, the Senate Education and Health Committee had narrowly voted to advance HB 1; now it heads back to the committee for review in 2013, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The "personhood" legislation had prompted hundreds to protest in front of the state Capitol yesterday. More»