Rad Geek People's Daily

The anti-abortion Right has often accused pro-choice court victories of being judicial activism that attempts to legislate from the bench rather than allowing state legislatures to decide the issue. Yet today they are cheering Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan for his decision to impose a temporary injunction preventing a pregnant woman from having an abortion without the consent of her ex-boyfriend.

Tanya Meyers was nine weeks pregnant and was scheduled to have an abortion on Tuesday. Her ex-boyfriend, John Stachokus, emotionally abused her, and Meyers filed for a protection-from-abuse order against him after he threatened and harassed her after their breakup. Stachokus claims he will take partial or full custody of the child, and that Meyers is being coerced by her mother into having the abortion. Never mind that Meyers is a 22 year old, fully competant adult woman. Never mind that he hasn’t even promised to take full custody of the child. Stachokus is simply determined to use the court system to continue his abuse and control of Tanya Meyers. Judge Michael Conahan has decided to oblige him.

Stachokus’s claim is obviously bullshit. The Supreme Court specifically stated in its decision in Danforth (1976) that Clearly, since the State cannot regulate or proscribe abortion during the first stage, when the physician and his patient make that decision, the State cannot delegate authority to any particular person, even the spouse, to prevent abortion during that same period. The decision was re-affirmed in Casey (1992) and placed under the prohibitions on laws which impose an undue burden on a woman’s Constitutionally-protected right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. But Judge Conahan nor Stachokus cares about the law. They don’t care about a woman’s moral right to control her own body. All they care about is establishing the dominion of a man over a woman’s uterine walls. With no legal basis whatsoever, Conahan has decided to place a temporary injunction forcing Meyers not to have the abortion she was scheduled to have last Tuesday, and he is hearing briefs on Stachokus’s claims today. Meanwhile, Meyer’s is now ten weeks pregnant, and every day of delay means that the abortion procedure that she eventually undergoes will be costlier, harder to obtain, and medically more risky.

Conahan’s flagrant disregard for the law and women’s rights, and Stachokus’s abusive and dangerous behavior are ridiculous and intolerable. Stachokus should be sued for compensation for the time lost and additional cost of the procedure, and punitive damages for his malicious suit. Conahan should be impeached for his disregard for the law and his irresponsible decision.