3 suits seek to block 'partial-birth' abortion ban

[Whoa_Nelly]

3 suits seek to block 'partial-birth' abortion ban

By Claire Cooper -- Bee Legal Affairs Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, November 1, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO -- Abortion-rights groups filed three lawsuits Friday aiming to block the federal ban on "partial-birth" abortion from the moment President Bush signs it into law.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the signing had been set for Wednesday on the broadest abortion limits enacted in 30 years. Two earlier attempts at passing a federal "partial-birth" law were vetoed by President Clinton.

<snip>
The legal complaints filed Friday asserted, however, that because "partial-birth" abortion is not a recognized medical term, the ban could be interpreted to criminalize almost all second-trimester abortions. The suits said it would chill doctors who feared stiff civil and criminal penalties and would violate women's privacy rights.

Planned Parenthood said the approximately 12 percent of abortions that occur in the second trimester include those in which the fetus has no brain or in which other abnormalities have escaped early detection.

more...
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7707442p-8647092c.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I hope they win

What gets me are the "right to lifers" who have this strange idea that women who are faced with the heartbreaking decision to abort do it with no more thought than choosing between different brands of sneakers. Sometimes it is found that fetuses, if carried to term, will live only a few pain-filled days and die. A woman should have the right to decide not to let her child to be suffer in that way. I've known women who had to decide what to do in a case similar to this, and it was emotionally wrenching for them.