TC
19th April 2007, 23:50
:angry:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6569007.stm
US top court backs abortion ban
The US' top court has upheld a ban on the controversial late-term partial birth abortion procedure.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
The act was passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President George W Bush.
Abortion opponents condemn the operation, in which the foetus is partially removed alive from the woman's uterus and then aborted.
This is the first time the nation's highest court has banned a specific procedure in a case of how, not whether, to perform an abortion, says correspondent Vanessa Heaney in Washington.
It is one of the most significant decisions since the landmark Roe-versus-Wade ruling in 1973 that gave women the basic constitutional right to abortion, our correspondent adds.
...
The Bush administration has defended the law as drawing a line between abortion and what they say is infanticide.
But abortion rights groups say the decision is a blow that could threaten most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
They say the procedure is sometimes the safest for a woman.
"This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women's health and safety," said Eve Gartner of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
However, government lawyers and others who favour the ban, have said there are alternative and more widely used procedures that are still legal - which involves dismembering the foetus in the uterus.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6569007.stm
US top court backs abortion ban
The US' top court has upheld a ban on the controversial late-term partial birth abortion procedure.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
The act was passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President George W Bush.
Abortion opponents condemn the operation, in which the foetus is partially removed alive from the woman's uterus and then aborted.
This is the first time the nation's highest court has banned a specific procedure in a case of how, not whether, to perform an abortion, says correspondent Vanessa Heaney in Washington.
It is one of the most significant decisions since the landmark Roe-versus-Wade ruling in 1973 that gave women the basic constitutional right to abortion, our correspondent adds.
...
The Bush administration has defended the law as drawing a line between abortion and what they say is infanticide.
But abortion rights groups say the decision is a blow that could threaten most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
They say the procedure is sometimes the safest for a woman.
"This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women's health and safety," said Eve Gartner of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
However, government lawyers and others who favour the ban, have said there are alternative and more widely used procedures that are still legal - which involves dismembering the foetus in the uterus.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------