"The Justice Department is demanding that at least six hospitals in New York City, Philadelphia and elsewhere turn over hundreds of patient medical records on certain abortions performed there. Lawyers for the department said they needed the records to defend a new law that prohibits what opponents call partial-birth abortions. [But] hospital administrators are balking because they say the highly unusual demand would violate the privacy rights of their patients... 'This notion of John Ashcroft poring over medical records in a fairly unprecedented type of fishing expedition is exactly the type of privacy invasion that worries people,' said David Seldin, a spokesman for Naral Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights organization. 'The government just shouldn't be involving itself in private medical decisions and second-guessing doctors' ability to advise their patients properly.'"

"Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., late Tuesday introduced legislation to transform what he called 'seven human rights and one rational right into constitutional amendments. I believe every American has a human right to vote, to a public education and health care of equal high quality, to affordable housing, to a clean, safe and sustainable environment, to employment, and equal rights for women. I also believe the American people have a rational right to be taxed in a fair or progressive manner... Most Americans believe the legal right to vote in our democracy is explicit (not just implicit) in our Constitution and laws. However, our Constitution only provides for nondiscrimination in voting on the basis of race, sex, and age in the 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments respectively. The U.S. Constitution contains no explicit right to vote! That's why I introduced H.J. Res. 28, a Voting Rights Amendment." You go, Jesse!

"Within a month, Bush aides say, the President [sic] Bush will issue a new executive order designed to shift power from the federal government to the states. The order, building on a Reagan administration policy, will create a federal watchdog charged with determining whether any federal law or regulation deals with an issue better handled by states." Hey, would this 'watchdog' have prevented the Supreme Court from interfering in Florida's States Rights when they handed the Presidency to Bush? Don't think so -- Bush and the GOP are proven hypocrites -- who will invoke relativism (or situational ethics) if they can increase their power. In general though, Corporations and local extremists gain power through States Rights – since it is easier to manipulate government at the state level. The article mentions that Paul Weyrich's American Legislative Council has consulted the White House. Guess what -- Scientology's CCHR front group has funded the ALEC! (Enter 'cchr alec' in Google).

Cheney is willing to push a constitutional crisis rather than tell who is on his secret energy task force. But this isn't the first constitutional crisis this junta has forced on the nation (the first being the Supreme Court's unconstitutional derailing of the election). At the very least, this behavior deserves intensive investigation, if not by the "Blue Dogged" Senate, then by a growing army of activist state legislators (forget Ashcroft - he abandoned his federal responsibilities months ago). Don't let Oregon (the state now calling for the impeachment of the Supreme Court five) stand alone! The fate of the achievements of 225 years of American history is at stake! Demand that your state government to take a stand.