Court grants first victory for partial-birth abortion ban

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PRO-LIFE ISSUES

August 1999; Volume 23 Issue 8

Court grants first victory for partial-birth abortion ban

Opponents of partial-birth abortion finally got a federal judge to see the light in a Wisconsin case that challenged that state's ban on the procedure.

Partial-birth abortion refers to the gruesome act of killing a baby whose entire body has exited the mother's abdomen except for the head. The baby's head is then forcibly collapsed, killing the child, before the body is fully removed.

Like 28 other states, the Wisconsin legislature had passed a law that made partial-birth abortions illegal, allowing for doctors convicted of performing the barbaric practice to be sentenced to life in prison. In 19 of those states, court challenges have successfully blocked the implementation of the law, either in part or in full.

Planned Parenthood filed suit to block Wisconsin's law as well, arguing that the law was too vague, restricted women's constitutional right to abortion, and failed to take into account the health of the woman.

But U.S. District Judge John Shabaz disagreed with all of Planned Parenthood's arguments. "The partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary to preserve the health of the woman," he said, adding, "The legislature did not adopt the act for the purpose of placing an obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion."

Source: World, 6/12/99