Inmates in Missouri win right to obtain abortions

A federal appeals court said this week that inmates in Missouri have the right to obtain elective abortion. Damn straight.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It throws out a policy by Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration and the Missouri Department of Corrections that restricted an inmate’s access to abortion.

Thomas M. Blumenthal, the St. Louis lawyer who brought the suit on behalf of an anonymous “Jane Roe” inmate, applauded the decision.

“This (abortion) is not a right that is lost at the jailhouse door,” he said.

Blunt responded, "Over the last three years, we have … enacted laws that reflect our profound respect for the inherent dignity of each and every life...I am hopeful and prayerful that we can further protect life by enhancing our laws to defend the dignity of human life.”

Unless that life is an incarcerated woman, then her dignity doesn't really mean shit to Blunt.