US court to decide federal ban on some abortions

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court said on
Tuesday it would decide a Bush administration appeal urging the
justices to uphold a federal law that bans certain abortion
procedures.

The justices agreed to review a U.S. appeals court ruling
that declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003
unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to protect the
health of a pregnant woman.

Abortion has been one of the most contentious issues for
the high court since its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973
that women have a constitutional right to abortion.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously last month that a New
Hampshire abortion law should not have been struck down
entirely when the problem involved only the part of the law
that lacked an exception for a pregnant minor’s health
emergency.

The court’s action on the federal law was announced with
new Justice Samuel Alito on the bench. The conservative Alito
replaced Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who often cast the
decisive vote supporting abortion rights before she retired.

President George W. Bush in 2003 signed the federal
legislation into law, but it has never been enforced because of
court challenges. Six different federal courts around the
country have all found the law to be unconstitutional.