The Supreme Court Takes on Partial-Birth Abortion

For the second time in six years, the Supreme Court of the United States has decided to weigh in on the issue of partial-birth abortion.

As you may recall, in 2000 the high court voted 5-4 to declare a state ban out of Nebraska unconstitutional.  Justice O'Connor provided the deciding vote in striking down the ban.  With her retirement and her replacement now on the bench, all eyes will be on Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. and the new Chief Justice John Roberts who replaced the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

At the American Center for Law and Justice, we have been working for years in support of the federal government's defense of this national ban.  We worked closely with the Department of Justice in 2004 when the ban was challenged in federal court in New York.  There were three separate challenges to the new ban in the federal court system in New York, Nebraska, and California.  In all three cases, the ban was declared unconstitutional.

The high court has agreed to hear the case out of Nebraska.  And, the ACLJ is working on a critical amicus brief in support of the ban to be filed with the Supreme Court.  The ACLJ will represent members of Congress who drafted the law.  The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was passed with wide bipartisan support and signed into law by President Bush.

Now, with the new make-up on the high court, the ACLJ remains hopeful that this horrific procedure - often referred to as "infanticide" - will be banned.

While the ACLJ will be representing members of Congress in its amicus brief, it will also represent its Committee to Protect the Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion.  Thousands have signed on already.  You can add your name to the committee if you haven't done so already.

This is such an important case.  Its time to put in place a constitutional bulwark against infanticide to put an end to this barbaric procedure once and for all.  Issues like this are always decided by the slimmest of margins.  But this time, were hopeful there will be a 5-4 vote to affirm life by declaring the national ban on partial-birth abortion constitutional.