Church lauds court for taking up
partial-birth abortion ban
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 24, 2006
Detroit — Public policy leaders in the Church have commended the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to consider the constitutionality of a federal ban on partial-birth abortion that was struck down by lower courts.
Partial birth abortion is the killing of an unborn child by inducing labor and crushing the child's skull as it is being delivered. It is legal in most states.
The nation's high court on Tuesday said it would consider reinstating the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was signed in November 2003 but declared unconstitutional by judges in California, Nebraska and New York.
"It was a great decision by the United States Supreme Court to take the case up, because the issue is of serious concern," said David Maluchnik, spokesman for the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Church's public policy arm in Michigan. "The partial-birth abortion procedure is heinous and a majority of Americans are opposed to it. The issue indeed needs to be addressed by the highest court to ensure the sanctity and dignity of human life is upheld."
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also strongly advocated for the ban on partial-birth abortion. In a letter to President George W. Bush after the president signed of the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, former USCCB President Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., called the act a "historic step."
Thirty states that have passed legislation to outlaw partial birth abortion – including Michigan – have had their laws declared unconstitutional by judges who have said the laws don't protect the health of the mother.
Advocates of partial-birth abortion and national media outlets have couched the issue as a debate over privacy rights, pointing to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which established abortion as a constitutional right that falls under a general right to privacy. Legal scholars on both sides of the debate have questioned the court's reasoning.
Partial-birth abortions constitute a small percentage of all abortions in the United States. Though the number of such procedures is scantily documented, pro-abortion groups have reported between 2,000 and 5,000 such killings occur per year in the United States.
As of The Michigan Catholic's publication time on Tuesday, no timeframe had been made public as to when the high court would consider the ban on partial birth abortion.
To learn more about the partial birth abortion ban, visit www.usccb.org/prolife.
|
