February 21, 2006 -- Supreme Court to Rule on Partial-Birth Law

The United States Supreme Court said today that the justices will hear arguments in a case to decide whether the federal government can constitutionally ban second- or third-trimester abortions in which a fetus is partially removed from the womb and the skull is punctured or crushed. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was enacted several years ago but has never gone into effect because a number of federal courts have declared it to be unconstitutional. The case now before the Supreme Court, Gonzales v. Carhart, was brought by doctors in Nebraska who perform the procedure and argue that it is the safest method of abortion when the mother’s health is threatened by heart disease, high blood pressure, or cancer. Fifteen states—Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia—joined in asking the Supreme Court to review the case.