Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act upheld; abortion opponents laud court

Published: 2007-04-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision April 18. The ruling was lauded by abortion opponents, including President George W. Bush, who called partial-birth abortion an "abhorrent procedure" in an April 18 statement from the White House. "Today's decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America. The partial-birth abortion ban, which an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress passed and I signed into law, represents a commitment to building a culture of life in America," said Bush. He signed it into law in 2003, but because of court challenges it never went into effect. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion in the Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood cases, said the law's opponents "have not demonstrated that the act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases." Also voting in the majority were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Voting in the minority were Justices Paul Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens.

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