For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 28, 2000

"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Roe v. Wade equals partial-birth abortions, and Al Gore agrees," said Wanda Franz, Ph.D., president of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), in response to today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling which struck down 5 to 4 the Nebraska law banning partial-birth abortions.

Partial-birth abortion is sure to remain a major issue this year. "Vice President Gore has opposed the bills to ban partial-birth abortion," said Dr. Franz, "In contrast, Governor George W. Bush believes partial-birth abortion should be banned."

As Justice Antonin Scalia accurately stated in a dissent today, "Today’s decision, that the Constitution of the United States prevents the prohibition of a horrible mode of abortion, will be greeted by a firestorm of criticism – as well it should."

As Justice Clarence Thomas explained in his dissent today, in a partial-birth abortion, "After dilating the cervix, the physician will grab the fetus by its feet and pull the fetal body out of the uterus into the vaginal cavity. At this stage of development, the head is the largest part of the body. . . . the head will be held inside the uterus by the woman’s cervix. While the fetus is stuck in this position, dangling partly out of the woman’s body, and just a few inches from a completed birth, the physician uses an instrument such as a pair of scissors to tear or perforate the skull. The physician will then either crush the skull or will use a vacuum to remove the brain and other intracranial contents from the fetal skull, collapse the fetus’ head, and pull the fetus from the uterus."

The National Right to Life Committee is the nation’s largest pro-life group with affiliates in all fifty states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide.

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