Cases on partial-birth abortion set stage for court's October opening

Published: 2006-10-02

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the Oct. 2 opening of its new term, the Supreme Court will quickly face cases on the federal law banning a procedure known as partial-birth abortion and others on protecting the environment, all of which are drawing attention from the religious community. Court observers are eyeing two abortion cases, in which the 9th and 8th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals each said the 2003 federal law banning partial-birth abortion was unconstitutional, to see if recent changes in the Supreme Court's makeup will affect the outcome of abortion-related decisions. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is among the organizations that filed amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs urging the high court to uphold the ban and use the cases to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Another case that has attracted the attention of Catholic organizations is a lawsuit by the commonwealth of Massachusetts against the Environmental Protection Agency, for failing to adopt regulations that would limit greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

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