April 2007 Supreme Court decision upholds Federal Abortion Ban
On April 18, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Gonzalez v. Carhart, the case that challenged the Federal Abortion Ban of 2003. The Court chose to uphold the ban, thereby departing from prior court rulings, and eliminating the vital protection for women’s health first guaranteed thirty years ago by Roe v. Wade. The Federal Abortion Ban prohibits certain second-trimester abortions, without any exception for the health of the mother. In doing so, it ignores Roe’s holding that lawmakers should not endanger the health of mothers when legislating about abortion. It also trumps laws passed in pro-choice states like Washington that include greater protections for women’s health than allowed under federal law. Justice Kennedy issued the majority opinion upholding the ban, in which he was joined by Justices Scalia, Thomas, and recent Bush appointees Alito and Roberts. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Ginsburg wrote a strong dissent, saying “Today’s decision is alarming. It refuses to take Casey and Stenberg seriously. It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It blurs the line, firmly drawn in Casey between previability and postviability abortions and, for the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception safeguarding a woman’s health.” The Federal Abortion Ban interferes with doctors’ ability to provide their patients with the best possible care. It affirms the right of politicians to regulate medical procedures, and could have future negative implications for a woman’s right to make decisions concerning her own reproductive health.
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