Liberty Counsel
NEWS RELEASE

Contact: PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT - 800-671-1776

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2006

Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday morning, November 8, 2006, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 ("Act") in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and Gonzalez v. Carhart. Liberty Counsel filed amicus briefs in both cases with the Court on behalf of the Association of Pro-Life Physicians and Illinois nurse Jill Stanek, in favor of the Act.

Nurse Stanek has a special interest in late-term abortions. She worked in a hospital where aborted babies born alive were cast aside to die. Stanek offered riveting testimony during hearings on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. Stanek's testimony was also introduced into Congressional hearings on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Liberty Counsel President Anita Staver represents Stanek and the physician's group. Staver, an attorney who also has a Master's degree in counseling, recognizes the mental anguish experienced by women who have abortions, especially those who are uninformed about abortion's after-effects.

This is the second time this decade that the Supreme Court has heard oral argument on partial-birth abortion. In 2000, the Court struck down a Nebraska statute that it deemed too vague and which did not provide an exception for the health of the mother. The Act passed by Congress, which the Court will consider this term, more specifically describes partial-birth abortion. After hearing testimony on the subject, Congress determined that the Act did not need a health exception because "partial-birth abortion is never medically indicated to preserve the health of the mother."

While termed a "partial-birth abortion," the procedure is actually infanticide in that a baby is brutally killed during the birth process, just a few inches away from birth with only its head inside the mother.

Anita Staver, President of Liberty Counsel, commented: "Women in this nation should be horrified that our sisters are still being subjected to the barbaric butchery of partial-birth abortion. Doctors are obligated to protect woman and that means we must be fully informed of the details of any surgical procedure. Partial-birth abortion causes babies to die a painful death. I am convinced that women do not want their offspring tortured. Not even a death-row inmate could legally be subjected to such a punishment in this nation." Staver concluded: "I predict that the High Court will retreat from its previous decision and will uphold the federal partial-birth abortion ban. Also, in the not too distant future, I believe that the Supreme Court will rectify the worst decision it ever made. The life span of Roe v. Wade and its progeny is waning. One day we will look back with shame and sorrow on this nation's approval of abortion."

Nurse Jill Stanek and Liberty Counsel President Anita Staver will be available for interviews in front of the Supreme Court building immediately following the argument.

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