Morning Roundup: PA News Organizations Petition to Unseal Minor’s Denied Judicial Bypass

Beth Saunders

More on the anti-choice Biebs, House member discusses her abortion at 17 weeks, Alaska moves forward with "Choose Life" plate legislation, Texas mandatory ultrasound bill advances, and Pittsburgh news organizations want to unseal a minor's denied request for a judicial bypass.

More on the anti-choice Biebs, House member discusses her abortion at 17 weeks, Alaska moves forward with “Choose Life” plate legislation, Texas mandatory ultrasound bill advances, and Pittsburgh news organizations want to unseal a minor’s denied request for a judicial bypass.

  • Not sure if you heard, but Justin Bieber is anti-choice. Read Amie Newman’s fantastic piece on why she believes he was even asked the question, and the interviewer, Vanessa Grigoriadis, defends her questions. Naturally, anti-choice youth groups are drooling over his statements, while Rep. Chris Murphy’s responded on Twitter with, “Ugh.”
  • One in three. That’s how many women have an abortion in this country. After graphically describing an abortion procedure, Rep. Chris Smith – and other members of the House – may have been shocked when Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) declared on the House floor that had an abortion at 17 weeks pregnant, and had the same procedure that Smith had just detailed. “For you to stand on this floor and suggest that this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought, is preposterous,” Speier said. Watch the video of her speech.
  • Alaska may be the next state with “Choose Life” license plates. A bill allowing the plate to be sold for $30 passed its first committee in the state house.
  • The Texas Senate has passed the “emergency” ultrasound bill – aka the “women are too simple to understand what an abortion is” bill.
  • The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other news organizations are suing to open a sealed Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling and appeal on a teenager who was denied a judicial bypass (which is very rare). The media groups say the ruling should be unsealed, with the teen’s name redacted, because the case could set legal precedent. Read more about the case of a seventeen year old denied a judicial bypass by a judge endorsed by People Concerned for the Unborn Child and LifePAC because she “used bad grammar.”

Feb 18

Feb 17