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Is the Federal Abortion Ban Headed to the Supreme Court?
GUEST: Louise Melling, Director ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

This Friday the Supreme Court is set to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s decision in the case of Gonzales vs. Carhart. The Supreme Court is responding to a request for review by the Federal government last year. In Gonzales vs. Carhart, the Eighth Circuit court struck down the so-called “Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003,” calling it unconstitutional as it fails to provide any exception to the ban when a woman’s health is at stake. In fact Last November the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a brief in opposition to the requested review of the case. In 2003, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood also challenged the abortion ban in separate federal district courts in 2003. Last year, all three courts declared the law unconstitutional. The government filed appeals in each case. Meanwhile, conservative, anti-abortion Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito will have his confirmation hearings next week.

For more information, visit www.aclu.org and www.reproductiverights.org.

Oil politics and poverty in the Niger Delta
GUEST: Rev. Nnmio Bassey, Director of Friends of the Earth based in Nigeria

Last week an oil pipeline in southern Nigeria was exploded by suspected saboteurs. The attack killed eight people and cut output from the world’s eighth largest exporter by seven percent. The pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell and also caused a major oil spill and fire. Four major oil pipelines in the Niger Delta have been attacked in the last two weeks. According to a spokesperson with the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Niger Delta, “This region is synonymous with oil, but also with unbelievable poverty. The world depends on their oil, but for the people of the Niger Delta oil is more of a curse than a blessing.” A local militant group, which wants autonomy for the Niger Delta, claimed responsibility for some of the attacks. Africa is expected to provide the United States with a quarter of its oil supply in the next decade, compared with about 15 percent now, and much of it will come from the Gulf of Guinea, where the Niger Delta sits.

Neighborhood Peace Vigils

Neighborhood activists all over Southern California hold regular peace vigils to end the war in Iraq. Each week we announce just some of the 50 plus vigils that are taking place. Complete listings of all the vigils are available at www.neighborsforpeaceandjustice.org or www.peacevigils.com.

Immigrant Workers in the Meat and Poultry Industry
Lance Compa, Senior Lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Ithaca, New York

In December Human Rights Watch submitted a report to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled, “Immigrant Workers in the United States Meat and Poultry Industry.” In the report, the U.S. Government is cited for failures to protect the rights of immigrant workers , especially those of undocumented laborers. Fears over immigration status discourage undocumented workers from demanding their rights to health and safety in the workplace. In March 2004 Associated Press reported in an alarming and increasing trend that Mexican workers in the U.S. are 80% more likely to die in the workplace than U.S.-born workers.

For more information, visit www.hrw.org.
Read the UN Report here.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“’Freedom from fear’ could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.” – Dag Hammarskjold, Former UN General Secretary