As most know by now, the U.S. SUPREME COURT ruled by a lopsided 6-3 majority on October 14 that Texas could not enforce that part of its 2013 omnibus pro-life law requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as other ambulatory surgical centers, this while the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals makes its decision on the case.

Read the background for this case here.

Today, in a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Massachusetts’ buffer zone law, which banned pro-life advocates from entering a 35-foot restricted-speech zone around the entrance of abortion clinics. Read the decision here. Details, from USA Today:

The decision united Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s four liberals, who said the distance improperly removed demonstrators from public sidewalks and spaces. The other conservative justices would have issued a more sweeping verdict, striking down the ban on grounds that it targets abortion opponents’ specific point of view….

Although the court had upheld an 8-foot buffer zone in Colorado in 2000, the Massachusetts law passed in 2007 went 27 feet farther.

Backdrop from CNN, November 26:

The high-stakes fight over implementing parts of the troubled health care reform law will move to the US Supreme Court in coming months, in a dispute involving coverage for contraceptives and religious liberty.

The justices agreed on Tuesday to review provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers of a certain size to offer insurance coverage for birth control and other reproductive health services [including sterilization] without a co-pay.

At issue is whether private companies can refuse to do so on the claim it violates their religious beliefs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz3jJg1CB7c[/youtube]But did you happen to notice one curious line in Chief Justice John Roberts reading of the majority opinion? Here it is: “It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.” If that doesn’t just about sum it all up nicely and neatly, nothing ever will. In short, […]

I’m still distraught about the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamcare, but the fight to uphold the sanctity of human life must go on. The Bible is clear that God orchestrates the course of human events, including leaders of nations, good and bad. The Lord allowed this decision for His purpose, which is ultimately for our good, and we trust Him.

Curt Levey, President of the Committee for Justice and a constitutional law attorney, has written “Top ten takeaways from the Obamacare decision.” Here are the bullet points, although the full article at BigGovernment.com is well worth reading:

UPDATE 9:22a: philipklein tweet: “SCOTUS: ‘The Medicaid expansion thus violates the Constitution’– says states have choice on participating in expansion.'” SCOTUSblog tweet: “Expansion of Medicaid is constitutional (key), but States can’t be stripped of funds for not complying with expansion provisions.”

UPDATE 9:17a: The individual mandate will become a tax. Taxpayers will still be forced to pay for abortions. SCOTUSblog tweet: “From the Court: The mandate max [may?] be regarded as a tax. ‘That is sufficient to sustain it.'” philipaklein tweeet: “SCOTUS: Mandate ‘may reasonably be characterized as a tax.’ It survives.”