U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Federal Ban On Partial-Birth Abortions
ANN ARBOR, MI — The United States Supreme Court today issued a sharply divided 5 - 4 ruling upholding the Federal law that bans Partial-Birth Abortions. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, had filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief with the Supreme Court supporting the Federal ban. The brief was filed on behalf of the Law Center, the National Pro-Life Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of over 600,000 pro-life Americans, and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “Today’s Supreme Court decision may very well signal the willingness of the Court under Chief Justice Roberts to revisit its infamous Roe v. Wade decision and end legalized abortion in this country. Its immediate effect is to overrule the ‘undue burden’ test for facial challenges to abortion restriction statues.”
At issue in the case was the constitutionality of the 2003 Federal law that bans a particularly barbaric and gruesome abortion procedure used in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy where the unborn child is removed from the mother’s womb except for the head. The doctor punctures the child’s head, sucks out the brains in order to collapse the skull, and then removes the dead child from the mother.
Immediately after the 2003 Act was signed into law by President Bush, pro-abortion groups filed federal lawsuits in New York, San Francisco, and Lincoln, Nebraska. Lower federal trial courts and appellate courts found the ban unconstitutional in all three cases and enjoined its enforcement. Those rulings have now been reversed by the Supreme Court, and the 2003 Act goes into effect.
The Supreme Court’s decision was authored by Justice Kennedy, who was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. Justices Ginsburg, Stevens, Souter, and Breyer dissented from the decision. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her bitter dissent from the bench.
Edward L. White III, trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, explained, “In our brief, we argued that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was constitutional and permissibly regulates abortion. We explained to the Supreme Court that to abandon this legislation would herald a new era in which the value of any pre-born human life would no longer be protected by our courts or our Constitution. I am glad the Supreme Court decided to support the culture of life and reject the culture of death that is spreading across this nation.”
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.
