Pro-life official praises government appeal on partial-birth abortion

Published: 2004-08-04

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Gail Quinn, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, praised the Bush administration Aug. 3 for its appeal of what she called a "dreadful decision" overturning the federal ban on partial-birth abortion. Attorneys representing the U.S. Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft filed notice Aug. 2 that they would appeal a June decision by U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of San Francisco that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was unconstitutional. The appeal would be heard by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also based in San Francisco. "We commend the U.S. Department of Justice for appealing this dreadful decision," said Quinn in a statement. "There is no place in a civilized society for this cruel and dangerous practice." Noting that the American Medical Association has said partial-birth abortion "is never medically necessary," Quinn added: "To say that it is a fundamental constitutional right, as the federal judge in California did, makes a mockery of the Constitution."

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