Pro-Life Law Firm Asks Supreme Court to Take Partial-Birth Abortion Case

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 18, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life Law Firm Asks Supreme Court to Take Partial-Birth Abortion Case

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 18, 2005

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) Thursday filed an amicus brief representing 70 members of Congress in support of a request from the Bush administration asking the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the constitutionality of the national ban on partial-birth abortions.

"With the high court already engaging such issues like abortion protests, assisted suicide, and parental notification for minors, the issue of defending human life is front and center this term at the high court," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the pro-life law firm.

"We’re hopeful the high court takes the partial-birth abortion case because it is clear the government does have a vital and compelling interest in preventing the spread of the practice of abortion into infanticide," he added.

Attorneys for President Bush filed a request in September for the Supreme Court to take the case, which it will likely do.

Pro-life advocates want the high court to reverse a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which declared the ban unconstitutional.

The appeals court relied on a 2000 Supreme Court ruling declaring a Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban unconstitutional because it failed to include a health exception — even though the three-day long abortion procedure is never necessary to protect a woman’s health or save her life.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the deciding vote and wrote the opinion in the case and, if replaced by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, the vote could likely go the other way and the national ban be upheld.

In a brief filed Thursday at the high court, the ACLJ represents itself and 70 members of Congress.

"Partial birth procedures represent the . . . bridge between abortion and infanticide," the ACLJ argues in its brief. "The central goal of the partial birth statute is the defense of the border against the encroachment of abortion into infanticide."

The ACLJ also points out that Congress spent more than eight years deliberating the question of partial birth abortion and argues that such a well-considered Congressional action should not be struck down without Supreme Court review.

The Supreme Court may announce as early as December whether it will hear the case.

Related web sites:
American Center for Law and Justice – https://www.aclj.org