Washington, DC - Arguing that Nebraska's ban on so-called "partial-birth
abortion" was specifically designed to overturn the right to choose
abortion guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, the Center for Reproductive Law and
Policy (CRLP) today filed a brief asking the
United States Supreme Court to find the ban unconstitutional. Oral
argument in the case Stenberg v. Carhart is scheduled for April 25, 2000;
a decision is expected by early July. It will be the first abortion case
heard by the Court in eight years.
"At stake in this case is the degree of constitutional protection
for women's right to choose abortion. The public has been deceived to
think that this case is about 'late-term' abortion. It is not. The Supreme
Court will evaluate whether states have the right to force a woman to
sacrifice her life and health to promote an extremist political agenda
that seeks to outlaw abortion outright," said Janet Benshoof,
president of CRLP, a legal advocacy organization.
Nebraska's abortion ban, which imposes a criminal penalty on doctors of
up to 20 years in prison, was struck down in a unanimous decision by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on September 24, 1999. CRLP
argues that the ban, which is similar to bans blocked by courts in 20
states and currently pending in Congress, should be found unconstitutional
for the following reasons:
* the law prohibits the most common and safest methods of abortion used
before fetal viability, the point at which the fetus can survive outside
the womb;
*although the State of Nebraska has now shifted its interpretation of
the law, claiming it seeks only to prohibit the D&X method of
abortion, the language of the law intentionally sweeps far beyond the
definition for that one procedure, resulting in a broad prohibition
against abortion;
* the law violates women's right to privacy by permitting the
government to dictate the options for a woman and her physician once she
has decided to terminate a pregnancy;
* the law fails to provide exceptions to protect a woman's health and
usurps the physician's medical judgment by criminalizing safe, medically
accepted procedures; and
* the State seeks to impose an undue burden on the right to choose
abortion by curtailing Roe's protections for women and extending legal
protections to a fetus, regardless of viability.
Simon Heller and Janet Benshoof of CRLP represent the plaintiff who
challenged the Nebraska ban, LeRoy Carhart, M.D. A retired Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel, Dr. Carhart is one of only three abortion providers in
the state of Nebraska. "Friend of the Court" briefs have been filed in
support of Dr. Carhart by the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, 81 Members of Congress, several state Attorneys General, as
well as numerous religious organizations and advocates for women's
equality.