California Judge Rules Partial Birth Abortion Ban Unconstitutional      6/2/2004

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A federal judge has ruled the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, signed into law in November, unconstitutional. The ruling came from the U.S. District Court based in San Francisco, California, one of three challenges to the law. Federal judges in Nebraska and New York have yet to issue their rulings.

This decision applies to more than 900 Planned Parenthood clinics and affiliated doctors nationwide that perform roughly half of the abortions in the country. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton wrote that "the act poses an undue burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion."

Judge Hamilton's ruling was not a surprise to CWA Senior Policy Director Wendy Wright.

"Given that Judge Phyllis Hamilton was pre-disposed to this ruling it comes as no surprise," Wright said. "Judge Hamilton did not allow key, relevant testimony such as the pain felt by unborn babies and medical evidence proving that abortionists lied when claiming partial-birth abortion is medically necessary."

"This ruling gives a whole new meaning to the notion that justice is blind," she added. "Partial-birth abortion is a barbaric procedure that literally kills a baby that is completely delivered except for the head. The American Medical Association has said that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary."

"This judge's usurpation of the will of the president and Congress to protect the unborn is a clear act of judicial activism," added Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. "We at Pacific Justice Institute have contacted the U.S. Department of Justice and have offered to file an amicus brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of this Act which is aimed at defending the basic dignity of human life."

Wright adds that there is a long road ahead, at least a year, before this case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We expect the law to pass constitutional muster and those babies will be protected, just as Congress overwhelmingly agreed with a large majority of the American people that partial-birth abortion was tantamount to infanticide," Wright said.

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