Judge Payne ruled that the ban imposes an undue burden on the right to choose abortion, fails to contain the constitutionally-required exception to preserve the life or health of the woman, and is so vague that the law is rendered "incapable of providing the kind of notice that will enable ordinary people to understand what conduct it prohibits."

"It is time for the Commonwealth of Virginia to put the Constitution above political expediency and to stop pandering to the extreme anti-choice movement that has foisted these laws on half the states of the nation," said Simon Heller, Director of Litigation for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. CRLP has challenged "partial-birth abortion" bans in 14 states.

"Partial-birth abortion" laws have been blocked or severely limited in 20 states. Permanent injunctions have been issued in 12 states, including Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, and New Jersey, where the statutory definition of "partial-birth abortion" is very similar to that in the Virginia law. Seven states (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, and New Jersey) have appealed final decisions to U.S. Courts of Appeal in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th circuits. Abortion providers have appealed a federal court's decision upholding Wisconsin's ban to the 7th Circuit. A narrower ban on certain methods of abortion was permanently enjoined in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear that case in March, 1998.

Judge Payne issued a preliminary injunction against Virginia's "partial-birth abortion" law on June 25, 1998. The Commonwealth of Virginia filed an emergency appeal to Judge Michael Luttig of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, who stayed the injunction on June 30, 1998. A two day trial on the constitutionality of the ban was held on August 18 & 19, 1999, and closing arguments were heard on January 14, 1999.