Government
Judge rules against Missouri's "partial-birth abortion" ban
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 2, 2004
A 1999 Missouri law that bans what politicians refer to as "partial-birth abortion" can't go into effect because it doesn't create an exception for instances when the procedure could be the best one available to protect a mother's health, ruled U.S. District Judge Scott Wright for the Western District of Missouri. At press time, the Missouri Attorney General's office was deciding whether it would appeal the decision.
Last month's ruling follows the precedent the U.S. Supreme Court set in 2000 when it rejected a similar law in Nebraska in 2000 because there was no exception for the mother's health. It also comes at a time when federal courts in Nebraska and New York are weighing arguments made for and against the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. A federal judge in California in June ruled that the act is unconstitutional.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/02/gvbf0802.htm.
