Supreme Court Reconsiders Ban on Abortion Procedures

Supreme Court Reconsiders Ban on Abortion Procedures


For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Bennett, 202-628-8669, ext. 123; cell 202-641-1906

Today the Supreme Court announced that it will consider the constitutionality of a federal abortion procedure ban -- a law identical in effect to the Nebraska ban that was struck down by the Court in 2000 because it didn't protect women's health. We will soon learn whether the High Court's two newest justices are as devoted to precedent as they say they are, or whether their visceral opposition to abortion will lead them to overturn a clear precedent after only six years.

The new case, Gonzales v. Carhart, concerns the same doctor, the same state, and the same issues as Stenberg v. Carhart in 2000, when Dr. Leroy Carhart challenged a Nebraska law that banned certain vaguely-defined abortion procedures without including any exception for a woman whose health is at risk.

The Court's narrow 5-4 opinion in that 2000 case found the law unconstitutional. That precedent in Stenberg was the reason three federal courts of appeal have declared this federal ban unconstitutional as well. The outcome in this case could be different because now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who cast the deciding vote in Stenberg, has been replaced by an opponent of abortion.

Not only will we find out whether our new justices are committed to "stare decisis" and settled law -- as Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito recently assured senators they are -- but we will also see whether their opposition to abortion means they will force doctors to violate their Hippocratic oath, putting the desires of Congress above their medical duty to put their patients' health first.

"This isn't the first time Congress has tried to practice medicine without a license, but if this ban is upheld, it will be the first time the Supreme Court has allowed them to do so," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "Will Congress be allowed to deprive you of the medical procedure your doctor says is safest for your particular circumstances?"