‘Partial-Birth’ Ban Reinstatement Sought
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON – Bush administration lawyers asked the Supreme Court yesterday to reinstate the first federal law banning a late-term abortion procedure, arguing that what critics call a “partial-birth” abortion should be outlawed because it is gruesome and is “never medically indicated” as a safer surgical procedure.
The government’s appeal asks the court to overturn the decision of a U.S. appeals court in St. Louis, which struck down the federal law as unconstitutional.
The dispute over this type of abortion amounts to a rerun of a case heard five years ago by the Supreme Court, but the outcome this time is in doubt because the makeup of the court is changing.
The eight associate justices met yesterday to go over more than 1,700 appeals that have been awaiting action since June. However, it will be several months before the justices decide whether to hear the abortion case.
