Partial-Birth Abortion Bans

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"Partial-Birth Abortion" Bans

Congress passed bills banning so-called "partial-birth abortion" in both 1995 and 1997. The president vetoed both. Meanwhile, 31 states have passed similar legislation. The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy has litigated 14 of the 21 state law challenges and in 20 cases the laws have been enjoined or severely limited. Six states where the laws have been enjoined used the language of the 1997 proposed federal bill. These bans are deceptive, unconstitutional, and extreme.

So-called "Partial-Birth Abortion" Laws Are Deceptive

"Partial-birth abortion" is a term coined by anti-choice abortion extremists who want to make all abortions illegal. There is no medical procedure called "partial-birth abortion."

The vast majority of so-called "partial-birth abortion" laws do not merely target one procedure; they potentially restrict all abortion methods. In fact, judges across America have found that "partial-birth abortion" laws would criminalize the safest and most commonly used abortion methods.

So-called "partial-birth abortion" laws are an unprecedented intrusion into medical practice, undermining a physician's ability to determine the safest and most appropriate course of treatment for a patient. It is wrong to ban any method, much less to ban virtually all methods.

So-called "Partial-Birth Abortion" Laws Are Unconstitutional

In 20 of the 21 states where these bans have been challenged, the laws have been enjoined or severely limited. Those states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Because so-called "partial-birth abortion" bill language is so vaguely written, the ban applies to abortion procedures used before viability. This directly contradicts Roe v. Wade and is unconstitutional.

Because these vague laws fail to give physicians adequate notice of the prohibited conduct, judges also find the laws unconstitutionally vague.

"The Act [referring to the West Virginia "partial-birth abortion" law] on its face threatens the plaintiffs' patients with deprivation of their constitutional right to privacy as articulated in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey." (Justice Joseph R. Goodwin, U.S. District Court, West Virginia, June 11, 1998)

So-called "Partial-Birth Abortion" Laws Are Extreme

So-called "partial-birth abortion" bans are, in fact, extreme measures by anti-choice politicians. They operate, and are designed to operate, to eliminate a woman's legal right to choose abortion.

The bans don't make exceptions for a woman's health, as required by Roe v. Wade.
The bans jeopardize women's health and criminalize virtually all abortion procedures.

Where the Medical Community Stands

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) opposes the federal "partial-birth abortion" ban as "inappropriate, ill advised, and dangerous." (ACOG Statement of Policy, January 12, 1997)

The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) opposes the federal ban, stating that it is gravely concerned with ". . . attempts to legislate medical decision-making through measures that do not protect a woman's physical and mental health . . ." (AMWA Statement on HR 1122, May 21, 1997)

While the American Medical Association (AMA) lent support to the now-defunct 1997 federal legislation, its own subsequent internal audit concluded that the AMA "blundered," lost sight of its responsibility to protect the physician-patient relationship, and ended up on the "wrong side of the issue." (Booz-Allen and Hamilton Management Audit of the American Medical Association Decision-Making Processes, October 13, 1998)

The American People Express Serious Concerns

According to CRLP's 1998 poll of registered voters:

77% are seriously concerned that the so-called "partial-birth abortion" ban is extreme, allowing no exceptions for serious harm to a woman's health;
73% are seriously concerned that the ban is government interference in difficult personal and medical decisions;
69% are seriously concerned that the ban is deceptive, banning the safest and most commonly used abortion procedures; and
67% are concerned that courts have ruled the ban unconstitutional.

The federal bill and look-alike state bills are deceptive, unconstitutional, and extreme.

Notes
For more information about this issue or about the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy please call our Washington, DC office (202-530-2975).