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High court rules against
state’s partial-birth ban
■ Justices rule 5-4 that
Nebraska’s partial birth
abortion ban violates
constitutional rights.
LINCOLN (AP)—Activists
on both sides of the abortion
debate in Nebraska reacted to
word Wednesday that the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down the
state’s ban on so-called partial
birth abortions.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices
said the Nebraska law violates
women’s constitutional right by
imposing an "undue burden” on
their decisions to end their preg
nancies.
Abortion rights supporters
hailed the ruling but expressed
concern in die close vote.
"It also is an indication to all
of us of how the whole Roe vs.
Wade decision hangs in the bal
ance by just one vote — yet
again,” said Steven Emmert,
president and CEO of Planned
Parenthood of Omaha-Council
Bluffs.
auuiuuu ugma uppuiicma
decried the ruling.
"The Supreme Court of the
United States chose not to listen
to the people of the United
States,” said Bob Blank, presi
dent of Metro Right to Life, an
anti-abortion rights group in
Omaha.
The ruling was the court’s
first major decision on abortion
in eight years, when it reaffirmed
the core holding of its 1973 Roe
vs. Wade ruling that said women
have a constitutional right to end
their pregnancies.
Wednesday’s ruling did not
appear to immediately affect
similar laws in 29 other states.
But their supporters are likely to
have a harder time defending
them in lower courts.
Blank said he was certain
several Nebraska lawmakers
would be ready to introduce
abortion-related bills in the
state’s next legislative session.
These bills would attempt to ban
the same abortion procedure
while meeting the guidelines the
Supreme Court sets forth in its
opinion.
Nebraska’s 1997 law was
challenged by Dr. Leroy Carhart
of Bellevue, one of three doctors
in Nebraska known to perform
abortions. Carhart is the only
doctor in the state known to per
form abortions after the 16th
week of pregnancy.
"Today’s victory is more
than a victory for me .... It is
more than a victory for abortion
providers,” Carhart said. "This
is a victory for all Americans
who believe that the government
must not be allowed to meddle in
the private decisions best left to
women, their families and their
doctors.”
Carhart’s clinic was open
Wednesday but no abortions
were scheduled. No protesters
were outside the building when
the decision came down.
M This is a
victory for all
Americans
who believe
that the
government
must not be
allowed to
meddle in the
private
decisions best
left to women,
their families
and their
doctors.”
Dr. Leroy Carhart
abortion provider
"We’re happy with the deci
sion, but we’ve won the battle
not the war,” Sandy Mantooth, a
worker at Carhart’s clinic.
Carhart has maintained the
Nebraska ban was written in
such a way that it could be used
to outlaw all abortions. Had the
law been upheld, Carhart said, he
would have simply used other
abortion procedures.
"It’s shameful ... that Dr.
Leroy Carhart will be able to
continue this grisly practice
unfettered,” said Julie Schmit
Albin, executive director of
Nebraska Right to Life.
Partial-birth abortion is not a
medical term, but it is typically
used by abortion rights oppo
nents in describing the proce
dure.
The Nebraska law defined
the procedure as "partially
delivering vaginally a living
unborn child before killing the
unborn child and completing the
delivery.”
Nebraska Attorney General
Don Stenberg, who defended die
case before the court, has used
the case as the cornerstone to his
campaign as the Republican can
didate for U.S. Senate.
He said Wednesday, however,
that he fought for the ban not
because of a political agenda but
because he feels that partial birth
abortion is wrong.
My campaign naa notning
to do with this — we wanted to
win this case,” he said. "My
concern is that this simply leaves
it up to Dr. Carhart or any other
abortionist to write the law for
the state of Nebraska.
"This barbaric practice is
unstoppable in our society,” he
said.
Stenberg said the decision
shows the need for greater scruti
ny by Congress of presidential
nominees to the high court to
make sure they follow die consti
tution and not engage in "social
legislation.”
Janet Benshoof, president of
die Center for Reproductive Law
& Policy and one of the Carhart’s
lawyers, said the ruling proved
that such abortion bans were
veiled attempts to attack basic
abortion rights.
"The opinion exposes their
political agenda,” she said. "It
confirms that this is a broad
scale political attack on Roe and
has nothing to do with one
method.”
“It does expose the lies that
have been perpetuated by people
like Attorney General Stenberg.”
Stenberg told the high court
in April that die ban is limited to
a procedure doctors call D&X,
or dilation and extraction, which
involves cutting the skull of a
fetus and draining its contents
before extraction.
A more common procedure
is dilation and evacuation, or
D&E, in which an arm or leg of a
live fetus may be pulled into the
birth canal during the abortion
operation.
The court said the Nebraska
law, which is aimed only at the
D&X method, could criminalize
the D&E method as well.
The Nebraska law did not
allow partial-birth abortions
even if doctors considered that
method the best way to guard a
woman’s health.
