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The Court of Appeals Decision in the case of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin v. Doyle The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling In a 5-4 vote, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Tuesday, Oct. 26, upheld the constitutionality of laws in Illinois and Wisconsin that criminalize a late-term abortion procedure its opponents call "partial birth." Neither law has yet been enforced. Statement by Gloria Feldt President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund October 26, 1999 Today's ruling by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin v. Doyle and the case of Hope Clinic v. Ryan means that Planned Parenthood® Federation of America (PPFA) will take every legal step available to assure that physicians and the women they serve can be assured of access to safe, legal abortion. We are shocked by the decision. However, we must be vigilant. Planned Parenthood will immediately begin the analysis of the court decision. "Fundamental issues of privacy and individual civil liberties affecting all women throughout pregnancy are at stake," PPFA President Gloria Feldt said. The protracted debates in the public square begun in 1995 and today unabated in the halls of congress and statehouses over the so-called "partial-birth" abortion bans fail miserably on many fronts to face a fundamental truth. That is a ban on abortion is a clear denial, a violation of a woman's constitutionally protected right to childbearing choices. "It is increasingly clear that the ballot box is the best solution to the legislatures' continuing assault on reproductive health and rights," Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) President Gloria Feldt said.

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