Federal Abortion Ban Held Unconstitutional A Third Time
FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE
September 8, 2004
FEDERAL ABORTION BAN HELD
UNCONSTITUTIONAL A THIRD TIME
Pro-Choice Washingtonians Energized to Elect
a Pro-Choice President, John Kerry
Seattle, WA – A third federal judge held President Bush’s federal abortion ban unconstitutional in Nebraska today. Echoing both earlier court decisions, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf’s strongly worded opinion decimated the ban as “unreasonable.”
Bush’s ban was held intentionally vague, aiming to eliminate a whole range of safe, necessary abortion procedures as early as 12-15 weeks. Anti-choice proponents of the bill deceptively touted it as covering only late-term abortions in an attempt to conceal their true intentions – to make all abortions illegal.
“According to responsible medical opinion, there are times when the banned procedure is medically necessary to preserve the health of a woman and a respectful reading of the congressional record proves that point,” wrote Judge Kopf in yesterday’s opinion. “No reasonable and unbiased person could come to a different conclusion,” Knopf concluded.
“President Bush’s anti-choice law has now been struck down three times in three courts,” commented Karen Cooper, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. “This unconscionable bill shows that Bush and his anti-choice allies think American women have no right to privacy. They are willing to trade women’s well-being to satisfy their extremist base. Washington’s pro-choice majority strongly opposes this dangerous and unconstitutional bill. They will respond this fall by voting for a pro-choice President and Vice-President,” concluded Cooper.
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the leading grassroots pro-choice advocacy organization in Washington State, endorsing 100% pro-choice candidates. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington PAC works to elect candidates committed to protecting the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion.
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