Here is our view.

What this bill really represents is an effort to circumvent the standard of fetus viability established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which is generally around 22 to 24 weeks. Resetting the point where states could intervene to 20 weeks would have prevented six abortions in Idaho in 2009. But this isn’t about stopping those rare occurrences; it’s about establishing an earlier entry point so that government can limit a pregnant woman’s right to make a highly personal decision. From there, other strategies can be employed to make abortion even more restrictive or outright illegal.

 

A Kansas jury deliberated for all of 37 minutes before finding Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Roeder, who shot Tiller in the head during services at his church, was relying on a so-called necessity defense, that is, he was innocent because Tiller posed an immediate threat to the fetuses he would abort.  Even Fox News analysts were saying Thursday that defense didn’t wash.  The jury obviously agreed. Thirty-seven minutes is about enough time to pass out pencils and paper. Roeder will be sentenced in March.