On Thursday, April 19th, at 5:00 p.m., a rally was held at Civic Center in San Francisco to oppose the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. On April 18th, the Court voted to erode the protections of Roe v. Wade, and thusly, to endanger women's health. In a 5-4 decision, the justices upheld the Federal Abortion Ban that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2003. The ban is now federal law that will come into effect within a few weeks. It will trump California's strong pro-choice laws and ban certain abortions, without an exception to preserve the health of the woman. Video & Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Any doctor who violates this ban would face criminal penalties of up to 2 years in prison, even if he/she was acting to protect the woman's health. NARAL Pro-Choice California says, "Our legislators need to know that California will not stand for anti-choice politicians interfering in women's private medical decisions." At the rally, pro-choice speakers will discuss the ban's implications for California and the country as a whole.

NARAL Pro-Choice America states, "By upholding the Federal Abortion Ban in its entirety, the Supreme Court has not only supported an abortion ban with no exception for a woman's health, it has given the green light to the anti-choice movement's plan to outlaw abortion entirely." The ban does not make an exception for the health of the woman who wishes to terminate her pregnancy. In her dissenting opinion, pro-choice Justice Ginsberg, who called the majority opinion "alarming", writes "...[T]he Act and the Court's defense of it cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court."

The Freedom of Choice Act is legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, and guarantee the right to choose for generations to come. Pro-choice advocates are vowing that in the 2008 election, they will help to elect a president will help to defend Roe v. Wade. Read more

Decision in Gonzales v. Carhart et al | Indybay's Past Coverage: 6/2/2004: 9th Circuit Says Partial Birth Abortions Legal | Right to abortion in US a controversial theme in 2003 | NARAL Pro-Choice America | National Women's Law Center | National Organization for Women