Changing Law to Protect Human Life, State by State
Americans United for Life
Praises Supreme Court Ruling
Upholding Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban
CHICAGO, IL – April 18: The Supreme Court of the United States today upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, reversing lower court rulings. The Act prohibits “partial-birth abortion,” except when necessary “to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered” by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
The Court’s decision, written by Justice Kennedy and joined by Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, rejected the court challenges by Planned Parenthood and other abortionists to the federal prohibition.
AUL President Clarke D. Forsythe—who filed briefs in the Supreme Court regarding the cases challenging the Act—stated, “We are very pleased to see that the Supreme Court has held that partial-birth abortion is not protected by the Constitution. While the decision did not directly overturn Stenberg v. Carhart, the partial-birth abortion case from 2000, it effectively gutted it.”
Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel and co-author of AUL’s Supreme Court briefs, stated, “I am encouraged by the important strides made by the Court today. The Court sent the message that it will not strike down abortion regulations simply because they are abortion regulations.”
Forsythe continued, “As long as these five justices remain on the Court, Carhart will be no more than an historical curiosity. By resurrecting and repeatedly quoting the Casey decision of 1992, the majority has indicated that federal courts must henceforth give greater deference to state and federal regulations of abortion.”
Smith added, “While I wish the Court would have gone further and concluded that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary, this decision, in combination with the Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood decision last year, demonstrates a new outlook by the Court. The courts can no longer strike down abortion laws based merely on abortion proponents’ speculative claims.”
Forsythe concluded, “The decision gives states a green light to pass this and other prohibitions on partial-birth abortion that are carefully drafted. Today’s decision gives us guidelines, and should encourage states to utilize what is left of the 2007 legislative session to pass more commons-sense pro-life laws.”
AUL Attorneys Clarke Forsythe, Denise Burke, and Mailee Smith filed briefs in the Supreme Court reviewing the medical evidence in the two cases on behalf of: the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists; doctor-members of Congress including U.S. Senator Tom Coburn; Congressmen Charles Boustany, Mike Burgess, Phil Gingrey, and Dave Weldon; former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop; and Dr. Edmund Pellegrino of Georgetown University.
About Americans United for
Life
Americans United for Life
(AUL) is a nonprofit,
public-interest law and policy
organization whose vision is a
nation in which everyone is
welcomed in life and protected
in law. The first national
pro-life organization in
America, AUL has been committed
to defending human life through
vigorous judicial, legislative,
and educational efforts at both
the federal and state levels
since 1971. The Wall Street
Journal has profiled AUL, and
PBS’s Frontline program
chronicled our successful
efforts in Mississippi.
Media Contact:
Matthew Eppinette,
Communications Director
312-568-4701 office
matthew.eppinette@aul.org
Media Contact:
Matthew Eppinette
Communications Director
Office
312-492-4701
matthew.eppinette@aul.org