Sunday, October 20, 2013

CREDO action
Investigate anti-choice judge in Nebraska
The petition to the Nebraska Commission on Judicial Qualifications reads:
Please investigate whether Judge Peter Bataillon has ruled impartially on abortion-related matters or if he's brought the prejudice of his years of anti-abortion activism with him to the bench.
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Dear Stuart,
No GMO Corn — click here to take action.
Picture this: You're a 16-year-old ward of the State of Nebraska. You live in foster care with your 7-year-old and 9-year-old siblings because your parents had their parental rights taken away for abuse and neglect. Your temporary foster family is extremely conservative. You've just found out that you're pregnant, and to get the abortion you decide is right for you, you are forced to ask a judge for permission -- a judge with a history of anti-choice sympathies. Guess how he rules?
You're right. Judge Peter Bataillon, after asking Emily* if she knew that "when you have the abortion it's going to kill the child inside you," declared her insufficiently mature to make this decision for herself and ruled against her abortion -- despite the fact that she had effectively raised her younger siblings, was planning to graduate high school early, and had undergone extensive counseling related to her decision to terminate her pregnancy.1
Did Judge Bataillon make that decision for Emily after hearing her case, or before he'd ever even met her?
When Judge Batallion turned down Emily's petition, she took her case to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which upheld Bataillon's ruling, leaving any minor who's a ward of the state of Nebraska effectively unable to get permission for an abortion under stricter standards put in place in 2011.2,3
If a minor's life can be put in the hands of an anti-choice activist by government mandate, it's important that we push the judiciary to be better.
Tell the Nebraska Commission on Judicial Qualifications that women's decisions about their own lives need to be respected and Judge Bataillon's qualifications must be reviewed. Click here to automatically sign the petition.
Thanks for standing up for choice.
Heidi Hess, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
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* - Not her real name.
2. ibid.
3. "New Abortion Restrictions Go Into Effect In Nebraska On Saturday," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check, August 26, 2011.

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