Two federal courts say partial-birth abortion ban is unconstitutional

Published: 2006-02-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two U.S. appellate courts overturned the federal ban on partial-birth abortions in separate rulings Jan. 31. Circuit courts in California and New York became the second and third federal appeals courts to find the 2003 law unconstitutional. Last summer the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled the 2003 law unconstitutional. The Supreme Court was already considering whether to accept an appeal of that ruling. In San Francisco, the 9th Circuit panel's 3-0 ruling noted that the judges considered the law in light of the Supreme Court's January ruling in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood. In the 9th Circuit ruling, the three-judge panel said the federal partial-birth abortion ban was unconstitutional because it lacks a health exception; imposes "an undue burden on women's ability to have pre-viability abortions"; and is too vague, "depriving physicians of fair notice of what it prohibits and encouraging arbitrary enforcement." In its 2-1 ruling, the panel of the 2nd Circuit upheld the New York District Court that found the federal law unconstitutional because it does not provide an exception for when the pregnant woman's health is in danger. The ruling put off a decision about whether to impose an injunction on the law's application until after the court receives further information in the form of briefs from the two sides in the legal challenge.

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