Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Ban

April 18, 2007
Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Ban

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 — For the first time today a sharply divided Supreme Court has upheld a ban on a specific abortion procedure.

In a 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court upheld the partial-birth abortion ban that President Bush signed into law in 2003.

Kennedy wrote that the ban did not pose "an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion" and that it furthered the government's legitimate interest in promoting "respect for life, including life of the unborn."

A sharply written dissent by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned that the court's decision "deprives women of the right to make an autonomous choice, even at the expense of their safety."

Ginsburg, joined by the three other liberal justices, said the court's "hostility" to the abortion right guaranteed by Roe was "not concealed."

Today's decision will come as a devastating blow to abortion-rights activists who accuse conservatives of attempting to chip away at a woman's right to an abortion.

People for the American Way, a liberal activist group, released a statement saying, "The replacement of moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with ultraconservative Justice Samuel Alito has brought the Court to the brink of judicial disaster."