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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could lead to a ruling that it is constitutionally permissible to ban partial-birth abortion. This is welcome news for those working and praying for a culture of life. FIC members, having helped secure both our Senators’ support for Chief Justice Roberts and Senator Lieberman’s opposition to a filibuster of Justice Alito, have much to be thankful for. Today’s news represents the first fruits of our efforts to reclaim the Supreme Court. An excerpt from the AP:

The outcome will likely rest with the two men that President Bush has recently installed on the court. Justices had been split 5-4 in 2000 in striking down a state law, barring what critics call partial birth abortion because it lacked an exception to protect the health of the mother.

But Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the tie-breaking vote, retired late last month and was replaced by Samuel Alito. Abortion had been a major focus in the fight over Alito’s nomination because justices serve for life and he will surely help shape the court on abortion and other issues for the next generation.

Alito, in his rulings on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, has been more willing than O’Connor, the first woman justice, to allow restrictions on abortions, which were legalized in the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

The federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act prohibits a certain type of abortion, generally carried out in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially removed from the womb, and the skull is punctured or crushed.

The good news from our nation’s high court comes as Connecticut’s pro-abortion activists continue their assault on religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The New Haven Register has one story on legislative efforts to force Catholic hospitals to carry the “morning-after” pill:

State Rep. Deborah Heinrich, D-Madison, is a member of the Public Health Committee and said she fully appreciates the concern the church has about the bill. But Heinrich said she ultimately supports a rape victim’s right to have an abortion.

“By withholding emergency contraception, you’re either forcing a rape victim to have a rapist’s baby or the other option is an abortion,” Heinrich said.

The Rev. John Gatzak, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Hartford, said the archdiocese would oppose any legislation requiring hospitals to administer contraceptives in cases where an ovum already has been fertilized or ovulation has begun.

The Catholic Church “does believe and always has that human life begins at conception … and that human life” at the point of conception “is entitled to all the respect that other human life is entitled to,” Gatzak said.

The Register also has a story on the attempt by New Haven Mayor DeStefano, and others, to jump on state Comptroller Nancy Wyman’s pro-abortion/anti-Wal-Mart bandwagon:

NEW HAVEN – Mayor John DeStefano Jr., following state Comptroller Nancy Wyman’s lead, is asking Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception…

DeStefano, a Democratic candidate for governor, said it was important that Wal-Mart reverse its ban across the entire country and act in Connecticut before the General Assembly passes a law requiring it.

On Friday, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he is preparing a formal legal opinion on the issue…

Dannel Malloy, mayor of Stamford and DeStefano’s rival for the Democratic nod for governor, said he has been on record for the past two years in favor of a state law on the issue.

“Pharmacies should be required to provide that which is legally available. No ifs, ands, buts about it,” he said.

A spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell did not return a request for comment.

These attacks on the sanctity of human life will continue until our imperial judiciary restores the right of self-government to the American people.

Little by little, that may, in fact, be happening. We call upon all of our members to pray for the Supreme Court to make the right decision and allow the states to protect those innocent young lives threatened by the gruesome procedure of partial-birth abortion.

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