APPEAL INJUNCTION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN

Washington, DC, Aug. 03 (CWNews.com) - The Bush Administration has filed an appeal of a federal court decision barring enforcement of the partial-birth abortion ban passed by the US Congress last year.

In papers filed on August 2, the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to lift an injunction issued by Judge Phyllis Hamilton in a federal district court. The injunction, handed down on June 1, blocked the implementation of the first law passed by Congress to restrict abortion since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

In a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood, Judge Hamilton ruled that the partial-birth abortion ban imposed an undue burden on women; she cited the 2000 Supreme Court ruling in Stenberg v. Carhart , in which the court struck down a statewide ban on the procedure in Nebraska.

The Congressional ban on partial-birth abortion-- a grisly procedure in which the baby is partially delivered, and then the abortionist punctures the skull to kill the baby before completing delivery-- has become the main focus of political opposition to abortion in recent years. During the Clinton presidency, Congress twice passed bans on the procedure, but failed to override a presidential veto in each case. During his 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush promised to enact a partial-birth abortion ban. The legislation was approved by Congress in October 2003, and signed into law by the President in November.

However, the ban never has taken effect, since lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the ban had been filed even before the bill was signed.

Defenders of the ban-- including the Justice Department-- argue that the legislation was carefully crafted to survive a legal challenge, avoiding the defects that the Supreme Court found in Nebrasaka's statewide ban.

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