Abortion ban struck down

US District Court Judge Richard Kopf, ruling in Carhart v. 
Ashcroft, joined two other judges in finding that the so-called 
"Partial Birth Abortion Ban", passed by Congress and signed into 
law by George W Bush in 2003, is unconstitutional and cannot be 
enforced.

"President Bush stands zero for three — his federal abortion ban 
has now been struck down for the third time", Elizabeth 
Cavendish, interim president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in 
a statement.

"However we know this administration will not be deterred — they 
will continue plotting to change the federal courts so they can 
reach their ultimate goal of eliminating a woman's right to 
choose. Their strategy is clear — they can't stop striking out, 
so they're going to hire umpires who share their disastrous 
vision."

In his 476-page ruling, Judge Kopf wrote that the act "does not 
allow, and instead prohibits, the use of the procedure when 
necessary to preserve the health of a woman." He also noted that 
the abortion methods banned in the law are necessary when a 
woman's health is in jeopardy.

Carhart v. Ashcroft is one of three district court cases striking 
down the Bush administration's attempt to impose extreme and 
overreaching legislation with complete disregard for women's 
health and the law.

Last month, a federal district judge in New York struck down the 
same ban in NAF v. Ashcroft, and in June, a San Francisco federal 
district judge in Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, also barred the 
US Department of Justice from enforcing the ban.