6/1/04 The Partial Birth Abortion Act, which President Bush signed into law in November of 2003, was overturned today by Justice Phyllis J. Hamilton in the Federal 9th District Court of Appeals in San Francisco today. Doctors have interpreted the Supreme Court's decision in Roe. v. Wade to mean they can perform abortions usually until the 24th to 28th week after conception, or until the "point of viability," when a healthy fetus is thought to be able to survive outside the womb. Generally, abortions after the "point of viability" are performed only to preserve the woman's health. The U.S. Supreme Court had overturned a Nebraska partial-birth abortion law because it did not allow the banned procedure in cases in which the doctor believes the method is the best way to preserve the woman's health. Doctors call the procedure "intact dilation and extraction," but opponents refer to it as "partial-birth abortion."
Today's ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft prohibits Attorney General Ashcroft and his successors from enforcing the law against doctors who provide abortion services for Planned Parenthood, whether they are working at Planned Parenthood or elsewhere, as well as doctors to whom Planned Parenthood makes referrals. It also prohibits enforcement against the city of San Francisco and its medical facilities. Two other challenges to the Partial Birth Abortion Ban are still in the courts: they were brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and Wilmer Cutler Pickering LLP on behalf of the National Abortion Federation and other doctors; and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Dr. LeRoy Carhart and other doctors. Closing arguments in the other two cases are scheduled for June.
Due to the fact that there are two pending federal cases, Judge Hamilton did not extend the injunction to all abortion providers.