Copyright 2000 Times Publishing Company
St.
Petersburg Times
July 07, 2000, Friday, 0 South Pinellas
Edition
SECTION: CITY & STATE; Pg. 1B
DISTRIBUTION: CITY & STATE; METRO & STATE;
TAMPA & STATE
LENGTH: 554 words
HEADLINE: Late-term abortion ban on
hold
BYLINE: ROBIN MITCHELL
BODY:
Days after the U.S. Supreme Court
rejected a similar law, state officials said Thursday they will not enforce a
ban on a late-term procedure called
"partial-birth" abortion.
Supporters of the ban
were disappointed by the state's decision. A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush called
the development disappointing. Florida's partial-birth abortion ban was signed
into law May 25 by Bush.
Last week, a divided U.S. Supreme Court struck
down a Nebraska law banning the rare and controversial
"partial-birth" abortion method.
The 5-4 decision said the law
could be interpreted to cover other abortion procedures and expose a woman to
unnecessary health risks.
The state said Thursday that, based on the
Supreme Court decision, abortion clinics and doctors were entitled to a
permanent injunction blocking enforcement.
The combination of the
state's action and the recent Supreme Court decision flustered opponents of
"partial-birth" abortions.
"I'm very disappointed in the Supreme
Court, because they use the life or health of the mother argument and the
procedure has nothing to do with the life and health of the mother," said
Dr. Max Karrer, a Jacksonville gynecologist and state chairman of the Christian
Coalition. "It's just a procedure to end the life of the baby."
In
addition to Florida, 28 states have similar laws, most already blocked or
severely limited by lower courts.
The Supreme Court ruling also made
efforts to pass a federal version of the law largely symbolic.
"I think
we have to see what Congress does," Karrer said. "Then the fight will
really be on."
Although pleased with the partial-birth abortion ban
signed into law May 25 by Gov. Jeb Bush, Karrer had favored waiting until the
Supreme Court reached a decision in the Nebraska case, then crafting a bill
written to resist a challenge.
Florida legislators this year debated and
passed the prohibition on the late-term procedure at the same time the Supreme
Court was hearing arguments - often in searingly graphic detail - in the
Nebraska case.
The Supreme Court decision curbed the states' power
to outlaw the dilation and extraction method, which opponents called
"partial-birth" abortion. Dilation and extraction involves pulling all but
the fetal head into the birth canal, then suctioning out the brain to make the
head fit through the canal.
The measure signed into law by Gov. Bush in
May was the state's second attempt in two years to pass legislation limiting
"partial-birth" abortions. The prior effort was ruled unconstitutional in
1998 by a federal judge in Miami.
A Tallahassee lawyer who successfully
challenged several abortion laws since 1989 said last week's decision by the
nation's high court made it clear the Florida law was unconstitutional.
"I'm very relieved that this case has been, for the most part, wrapped
up," Charlene Carres said.
The state also agreed Thursday that it
owes attorneys' fees to Carres and other lawyers for the plaintiffs. The
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy in New York also represented the
physicians and clinics.
Carres estimated the cost of case will be in the
tens of thousands of dollars. The state paid more than $ 100,000 to the
attorneys who challenged Florida's first ban on partial-birth abortions.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LOAD-DATE: July 7, 2000
