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House to Vote on Abortion Ban Legislation With Supreme Court Set to Consider the Constitutionality of the Bans, Inflammatory and Inaccurate Anti-Choice Campaign Continues Statement by Gloria Feldt, President Planned Parenthood Federation of America April 5, 2000 Washington, DC — Anti-choice Members of Congress insist on advancing H.R. 3660, the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" Ban, despite repeated court rulings finding similar legislation unconstitutional, and despite voters’ rejection of abortion bans in three failed ballot initiatives. Fair-minded people must wonder why they are now pressing on with a seriously flawed piece of legislation when they know the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a similar ban in the spring. The bill’s proponents are falsely claiming that new language in this bill will "fix" the constitutional flaws inherent in previous similar legislation. This is not true: This bill bans safe, medically appropriate, pre-viability abortions. This bill is an unprecedented intrusion into medical practice that risks the health and lives of women. Doctors, not politicians, should be making medical decisions. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes this criminal ban, stating, "The intervention of legislative bodies into medical decisions making is inappropriate, ill advised and dangerous." This bill disregards women’s health and lives. The Supreme Court has consistently held that a woman’s health and life be protected throughout pregnancy. This bill contains no exception for a woman’s health, nor an adequate life exception. Clearly this ban is unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth and Eighth Circuits and lower federal courts in 16 states agree, finding similar bans would interfere with the constitutional right to choose abortion. Voters recognize a bad bill when they see one. The abortion bans have lost each time they have come to the ballot box. Voters in Colorado, Maine, and Washington understood the true intent of the bans, and rejected the state-wide ballot initiatives. Planned Parenthood will continue to oppose any law that allows the government to intrude into the practice of medicine or that threatens a woman’s health or personal childbearing decisions. Planned Parenthood calls on our elected officials to stand up for women, their families, and the physicians who care for them and stop being misled by inflammatory and inaccurate anti-choice campaigns. Instead, vote to support and protect the women who sent you to Washington to represent them.

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