August 26, 2004

Federal Judge Strikes Down Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

Manhattan, New York – Today, a U.S. District Court Judge declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional because it does not contain an exception for instances in which the health of the mother is threatened. While Judge Richard C. Casey indicated that the procedure causes pain to the unborn child and is “gruesome, brutal, barbaric, and uncivilized,” he reluctantly noted that the United States Supreme Court case of Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) requires a "health of the mother" exception to any law regarding abortion. Liberty Counsel, a non-profit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family supports the Department of Justice’s position in National Abortion Federation v. Ashcroft that the barbaric nature of the partial-birth abortion procedure results in effectual infanticide.

The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which President Bush signed into law in 2003, prohibits the procedure referred to by abortion rights proponents as "intact dilation and evacuation." In this procedure, usually performed during the second trimester of pregnancy, the unborn child is removed intact from the uterus in the breech position. With one hand the doctor holds the child in place so that the child does not completely come out of the uterus while using the other hand to puncture the skull with scissors or crush the skull with forceps. The doctor then drains the skull and the unborn child dies when the brain is either drained or when sucked from the skull. The unborn child’s body is then extracted from the uterus. Medical testimony reveals that the unborn child jerks and feels pain when the body is punctured and ripped apart. Futhermore, recent medical testimony also shows that the unborn child’s pain sensitivity is heightened because the younger a person is, the lower their tolerance for pain.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated: "The partial birth abortion procedure is infanticide - nothing more, nothing less. However, the ruling in this case sets the stage for the Supreme Court to overturn their decision in Stenberg v. Carhart. The lengthy Congressional history regarding how partial birth abortion is never necessary to protect the life of the mother, combined with the testimony regarding how unborn children feel pain in a heightened manner, provides an opportunity for the Supreme Court to uphold the ban on partial birth abortion because the health of the mother exception is virtually inapplicable in partial birth abortion cases." Staver remarked, "For the Supreme Court to strike down a law banning partial birth abortion would be like looking Hitler in the face and condoning the most grotesque, inhumane, barbarism imaginable-without even blinking."

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Liberty Counsel, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. On the campus of Liberty University School of Law in Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty Counsel's Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy trains attorneys, law students, policymakers, legislators, clergy and world leaders in constitutional principles and government policies.

Mathew D. Staver, Esq.
Liberty Counsel
PO Box 540774
Orlando, FL 32854
800-671-1776

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