Topic: Abortion
Quote: What are the abortion laws in the USA and UK? There has been much attention on the topic here in Australia for the past few months as the Abortion Law reform bill was passed last week. It is now legal to have an abortion in Australia up to 24 weeks without medical reasoning.\nWhat are the laws in your lands? are they in the process of being reformed, re-newed?\nI'm trying to keep up to date with American politics but it can be very overwhelming so any info would be great. emoticonXSmilie
Response: American law is based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as "Roe v. Wade", decided in the 1973, and whereupon a woman\'s right to choose to based in a Constitutional right to privacy,\nhttp://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/script...l=410&page=113\nThere have been some related cases since then, over viewed in this wikipedia link,\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v_wade\nRoe is settled law, though the next president will have the opportunity to appoint up to 3 new Justices. Therefore, if a conservative like McCain went in, he would most likely appoint judges inclined to overturn Roe --though overturning cases in such a way goes against the principle of stare decisis in our legal system.\nBut the Republicans don\'t care too much about stare decisis if they have political objectives on their minds more.\nMcSame would most like to see Roe overturned, but also power vested in the states more. So what you\'d end up seeing is large swaths of the United States with abortion outlawed, and other areas where it would remain legal (and we would therefore get all the people coming from their states). It would become increasingly difficult for poorer women to have access to abortion services or morning after pills, etc.\nMake of it what you will. I am hearing that you have improved access to medical care as a result of what\'s going on where you are. If I understood correctly. I don\'t recall you stating your position on this issue.
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