Good News: A federal appeals court panel in Virginia struck down a law that essentially criminalized all second trimester abortions.

In a 2-to-1 decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the law was more restrictive than the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which the United States Supreme Court upheld last year in Gonzales v. Carhart.

...“Unlike the federal act,� Judge Michael wrote, “the Virginia act subjects all doctors who perform� the more common procedure “to potential criminal liability, thereby imposing an unconstitutional burden on a woman’s right to choose.�

Stephanie Toti, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that under the ban, "The only way for doctors to obey this law would be to stop performing the most common second-trimester abortion methods."

1 Comments

May 21, 2008 12:13 PM

[0+]  bittergradstudent said:

Here's to hoping that the Roberts court doesn't agree to hear the appeal...

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