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JUST POSTED ON TAP ONLINE: CONSENTING ADULTS. TAP deputy editor Sarah Blustain explains that abortion "informed consent" laws (such as the one considered by the 8th Circuit Court on Wednesday) aren't really about making sure women have all the facts -- they're about codifying the notion that women are weak, ignorant, and unable to make decisions for themselves.
"Informed consent legislation and litigation is dangerous precisely because it misleads," says Yale Law School professor Reva Siegel. "Its anti-abortion premises and purposes are dressed up in the language of the pro-choice claim -- as restrictions designed to protect women's welfare and women's freedom." Should the law be upheld in the courts, it could both codify the personhood of the fetus and undermine the personhood of the mother in ways that would affect American legal and legislative efforts in untold ways.Read the whole thing here. Sarah also did a revealing Q-and-A with anti-abortion lawyer Harold Cassidy, who is defending "informed consent" laws in courts around the country.--The Editors
