Second Court Ruling Underscores Importance of Supreme Court Appointees

Most are aware of U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton's ruling this week that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words "under God." A second, less publicized ruling was also handed down this week that once again illustrates what is at stake in the filling of two current U.S. Supreme Court vacancies.

On Monday U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood ruled that Michigan's "Legal Birth Definition Act" is unconstitutional.

CNSNews.com reports that

In March 2005, Planned Parenthood and several abortion clinics sued to block the law, with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights serving as counsel. They argued that the law would ban most abortions.

According to Right to Life Michigan, the Legal Birth Definition Act is (an) attempt to "redefine legal birth so that a child has the protections of legal personhood once any part of that child is visible outside of the mother's body."

Right to Life Michigan said the bill does not restrict a specific abortion procedure, but it will effectively prohibit partial-birth abortion -- a procedure where a nearly fully-developed infant is pulled through the birth canal by its feet except for the head, which is then punctured by scissors to remove the brain before the partial delivery is completed.

Both the Michigan House and Senate passed the Legal Birth Definition Act in 2003, but Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed it.

Since there weren't enough Senate votes to override the veto, Right to Life of Michigan kicked off a "People's Override" petition drive in January 2004.

Pro-life activists collected more than 460,000 signatures on a petition that brought the bill back to the Michigan House and Senate, where lawmakers once again passed the bill -- thus overriding Granholm's earlier veto and allowing the bill to become law without her signature.

Can there be a more blatant example of judicial tyranny? The people's elected representatives pass a law. The governor vetoes it. Nearly 1/2 million people sign a petition to send the bill back to their elected representatives. The people's elected representatives override the governor's veto. It is the will of the people that this bill becomes law. One activist liberal judge overrides the will of the people.