DECEPTION: The "partial-birth abortion" ban is a reasonable and constitutional restriction on abortion.

REALITY: The "partial-birth abortion" ban is a deceptive, extreme, and unconstitutional measure that violates a woman's right to choose; violates a woman's right to privacy; exposes women to unnecessary medical risks; and makes doctors subject to arrest and imprisonment. It is a not-so-clever ruse to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Partial-birth abortion" bans are the cornerstone of a carefully crafted strategy to eliminate all legal abortions. The bans are extreme measures that jeopardize women's health and criminalize most abortion procedures.

In fact, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and judges in 20 states have declared that "partial-birth abortion" laws fail to meet constitutional standards:

The Eighth Circuit - in the first ruling by a federal appellate court - found that "partial-birth abortion" bans in Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska are unconstitutional because they place an undue burden on women seeking to exercise a constitutionally protected right by prohibiting some of the safest and most common procedures used today;

In 20 of 21 states, laws have been blocked or severely limited;
18 courts have issued temporary or permanent injunctions stopping laws from taking effect because they have unconstitutional defects;
Six states where laws are blocked used language identical to the pending federal legislation;
One court limited enforcement of the law;
One attorney general limited enforcement of the law.

DECEPTION: "Partial-birth abortion" is an actual medical procedure.

REALITY: There is no known medical procedure called "partial-birth abortion." "Partial-birth abortion" is a term coined by anti-choice abortion strategists who want to make all abortions illegal. This term is not in any medical text or literature. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declared that "(t)he law refers to 'partial-birth abortion,' but this term, though widely used by lawmakers and in the popular press, has no fixed meaning or legal content."

DECEPTION: The "partial-birth abortion" ban applies only to late-term abortions.

REALITY: "Partial-birth abortion" bills ban safe and legal abortions throughout pregnancy, even before viability. These bans, as affirmed by court after court - including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit - infringe on the constitutionally protected right of privacy and place an undue burden on a woman's right to choose. The federal "partial-birth abortion" bill does not mention "late-term abortions" anywhere in it. Its application is not limited by weeks of pregnancy or any other time period. The bill does not distinguish between procedures that take place before or after a fetus can survive outside the womb. In fact, the bill would apply to all abortions at any time, effectively nullifying the right to choose.

DECEPTION: "Partial-birth abortion" bans are benign. They won't really harm women, even those who have special circumstances or needs.

REALITY: "Partial-birth abortion" laws demonstrate a callous disregard for women's health. "Partial-birth abortion" laws provide no exceptions to protect a woman's health. Limited exceptions are made only to save a woman's life if she is endangered by the pregnancy. Judges across the country have ruled state laws such as these unconstitutional, both because they provide no health exception and because they may irreparably harm women by denying adequate and appropriate medical care.

DECEPTION: Making "partial-birth abortion" illegal is okay because doctors could use another procedure if it were really necessary.

REALITY: The "partial-birth abortion" ban interferes with the right of doctors and patients to make private medical decisions without government interference.

Whether or not to have an abortion is a decision for a woman to make in consultation with her doctor - not the government. In fact, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that the ban "would also prohibit, in many circumstances, the most common method of second trimester abortion....Under the controlling precedents laid down by the Supreme Court, such a prohibition places an undue burden on the right of women to choose whether to have an abortion."

DECEPTION: The medical profession supports the ban on "partial-birth abortion."

REALITY: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which represents over 90 percent of all board certified ob-gyn physicians, opposes the federal "partial-birth abortion" bill. The American Women's Medical Association (AWMA) also opposes the ban, stating that it is "gravely concerned with governmental attempts to legislate medical decision-making."

The American Medical Association (AMA) initially lent one-time support to the now-defeated 1997 federal legislation; an internal audit indicated that the organization "blundered" and that this support was politically, not medically motivated. The organization suffered national embarrassment. The AMA president has said that the organization's support did not extend beyond the defeated bill.