Arizona’s stringent abortion law, which includes a ban on all abortions beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy, was upheld by a federal judge yesterday, setting up a potential showdown at the Supreme Court that could further chip away at Roe v. Wade. The Arizona law will now take effect tomorrow, as scheduled. U.S. District Judge James [...]

Score one for independent journalism. Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones exposed the legislation in South Dakota that could have provided a legal defense for murderers of abortion providers under a “justifiable homicide” statute. The sponsor of the bill, Phil Jensen, faced an immediate backlash, and altered the bill multiple times to take the heat off [...]

South Dakota has been at the forefront of anti-abortion efforts in recent years. The legislature tried to ban all abortions in the state in 2006. This led to a ballot initiative overturning the legislation. The people spoke and said they didn’t want their state turned into a war zone for women. A separate abortion 2008 [...]