Virginia abortion ban struck down

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

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.”