The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on a gruesome procedure known as partial-birth abortion April 18, delivering an important victory for legislative efforts to protect unborn children.
The high court’s 5-4 decision reversed rulings by two federal appeals courts and affirmed the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act as the law of the land, marking the first judicially approved restriction on a specific procedure since the justices legalized abortion in 1973. The 2003 law prohibits an abortion technique that involves the killing of an almost totally delivered baby usually in at least the fifth month of pregnancy.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in the majority. Kennedy, who affirmed the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in a crucial 1992 ruling, wrote in the majority opinion that the ban does not infringe on the right to abortion declared previously by the high court, meaning Roe remains in effect. He said the ban is not vague and does not impose “an undue burden on a woman’s right to abortion” based on it being either overly broad or lacking an exception for the mother’s health.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sharply disagreed in her dissent, calling the decision a retreat from previous rulings. She said the opinion was “alarming,” and she described as “irrational” the idea that the law advanced a “legitimate governmental interest.” Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Stephen Breyer joined Ginsburg.
President Bush, who nominated Roberts and Alito to the high court, said he was pleased with the ruling, calling it an “affirmation of the progress we have made over the past six years in protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life. We will continue to work for the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law.”
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said, “This is a great day for justice. This is a great day for the unborn. And this is a great day for America.”
The Susan B. Anthony List, which seeks to help elect pro-life women to Congress, called the ruling a “watershed moment for the pro-life movement.” The organization’s statement said the decision “will likely inspire increased support for more common-sense restrictions on abortion across the country.”
Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., a congressional pro-life leader, said, “Finally, the high court has found its voice and used its authority to defend helpless children and their vulnerable mothers from the violence of abortion. Scrutiny must be brought to bear on the methods of abortion. The discussion of partial-birth abortion begins that process.”