DAILY CATHOLIC THURSDAY October 28, 1999 vol. 10, no. 206
NEWS & VIEWS |
APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BANSCHICAGO (CWNews.com) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld bans on partial-birth abortions in two states, setting up a Supreme Court review of the controversial laws.The US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 5-4 ruled that the bans passed by Illinois and Wisconsin are constitutional. Thirty states have passed bans, but in 20 cases courts have overruled or restricted them. Pro-abortion groups have vowed to appeal the appeals court's decision. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said the Supreme Court would perhaps review an appeal next year. The decision reversed a ruling by a federal judge in Chicago that held the Illinois law unconstitutional as well as an appeals panel's order that temporarily halted enforcement of the Wisconsin statute. "We conclude that both laws can be enforced in a constitutional manner," Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for the majority. The court added that additional laws could circumvent opponents' charges that the bans would be used to punish abortionists for performing otherwise legal abortions.
Last month, a federal appeals court in St. Louis struck
down similar laws in Nebraska, Arkansas, and Iowa, setting
up the Supreme Court review to settle the differences.
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