The Art of Abortion Politics
A unanimous Supreme Court decision opens the door to real change.
by Ted Olsen
posted 02/20/2006 09:00 a.m.

The Supreme Court is consensus happy. In January, it didn't just issue one unified decision on abortion-related cases—it issued two.

In the second opinion, the Court dealt with a lower court's decision that barred Wisconsin Right to Life from broadcasting ads that mentioned the name of a senator during his reelection campaign. The justices sent the case back to the lower court to determine whether the pro-life organization is exempt from the McCain-Feingold campaign law—which the Court supported in a 2003 decision.

But that was an easy one for the Court: Even NARAL Pro-Choice America filed a brief on behalf of Wisconsin Right to Life. Still, the decision is important.

"This could be an important first step toward undermining [the 2003 ruling] without overruling it," Richard Hasen, an election-law expert at Loyola Law School, told Legal Times.

The rest