8th Circuit Strikes Down Partial Birth Abortion Law. by Last Night in Little Rock
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit yesterday in Carhart v. Gonzalez (pdf) affirmed the District of Nebraska and struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act adopted in November 2003, and signed into law with appropriate conservative fanfare. It barred a method of abortion generally used after the first trimester without regard to preservation of the health of the pregnant mother, and that was its flaw. Under the Act, a partial birth abortion was a two year felony for the physican. 18 U.S.C. § 1531(a). See the N.Y. Times story here.
The Eighth Circuit is not, by any means, a liberal court. It is heavily stacked with Republican appointees. This panel had a Reagan senior judge, a Bush I, and a Clinton appointee (2 of 11 active judges are Republican appointments).
The Times article notes that this is the first appellate ruling on this statute, and it comes right at the time Justice O'Connor's vote would be missing when [and not if] the case gets to the Supremes, which it will.
What can we expect with political and procedural maneuvering? What happens next?
[TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]
