U.S. District Judge Richard Casey in New York ruled last week that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban enacted by the U.S. Congress is unconstitutional. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a similar ruling earlier this summer, and a third federal court is currently considering the ban in a federal court in Nebraska.
"Judge Casey said his ruling was dictated by a 5-to-4 Supreme Court ruling in 2000, which held that Roe v. Wade protects partial-birth abortion," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee. "Future appointments to the Supreme Court will determine whether it remains legal to mostly deliver living premature infants and painfully puncture their skulls. President Bush is determined to ban partial-birth abortion, but John Kerry voted against the ban and has vowed that he will appoint only justices who agree with him."
