You know, I was afraid this would happen

On the plus side, the right-wing talking point about "personal freedom" has been revealed as the empty rhetoric it truly is. On the minus side...well, women who need a medical procedure to save their lives are going to be up the fucking creek.

George Bush's new, conservative Supreme Court delivered a victory to anti-abortion activists yesterday when it upheld the so-called Partial Birth Abortion Act, which outlaws a specific, relatively rare procedure usually carried out on pregnant women reaching the end of the second trimester.

The issue has been mired in controversy for years, with anti-abortion activists arguing that the operation, which involves crushing the foetus's head, is unspeakably barbaric while their opponents say it can, in certain circumstances, be the least traumatic way of ending a pregnancy and causing least damage to the health of the mother.

Six courts have ruled that the 2003 federal law banning the procedure was unconstitutional because it did not provide an exception to protect the life and health of the mother. It seems likely that the Supreme Court would have made a similar ruling until last year, when Sandra Day O'Connor retired and was replaced by Samuel Alito, a hardline conservative. That change shifted the balance on the Court to a 5-4 majority generally hostile towards abortion laws. Before Justice Alito's appointment, John Roberts, a conservative, replaced the late William Rehnquist as Chief Justice.

You hear that? If a woman's life is endangered, she STILL won't be able to have this very rare procedure. Which means women will die. Once again, Bushco (and the Bush supporters, AND the Bush voters) have blood on their hands. Just fucking wonderful.

Can we PLEASE elect a Democrat next time around, who'll appoint some sane, non-conservative judges? Please?