activism in action

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/national/23dakota.html

Following up on yesterday's post, the vote in South Dakota to ban most abortions passed, and now only needs to be signed by Republican Governor Mike Rounds to go into effect and potentially set up a court challenge to Roe vs. Wade. Monica Davey writes in the N.Y.Times:

After more than an hour of fierce and emotional debate, the senators rejected pleas to add exceptions for incest or rape or for the health of the pregnant woman and instead voted, 23 to 12, to outlaw all abortions, except those to save the woman's life.

Interesting that when the new Supreme Court Justices were up for nomination, Republicans kept charging that Democrats were too focused on abortion, and using that as practically the sole issue on which the potential Justices were judged. In response, Alito and Roberts said, essentially, they have no opinion on abortion. (Why would they?) Of course, now that they've been confirmed, the first thing that happens is that Republicans are going after Roe vs. Wade. This is the political equivalent of one of your friends swearing up and down that he's a great driver when he wants to borrow your car, then wrecking it moments after you give him the keys.

But hey, maybe I'm being pessimistic. Maybe Alito and Roberts really have never thought about abortion, and now that they'll have a chance to think about it, they'll decide that they're pro-choice. Or maybe they'll stick to the philosopy they espoused during their confirmation hearings of not being "activist judges"--i.e., not using the court to make major policy changes. Here's our chance to test them on both of their major confirmation promises.