Legislation
6th Circuit Axes Late-Term Abortion Ban; Fallout over Supreme Court Decision
Posted Jun 4, 2007, 07:37 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A Michigan law banning late-term abortions is unconstitutional because it is overly broad and "unduly burdens" a woman's right to an abortion, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided today.
This is the third time that a Michigan law targeting so-called partial birth late-term abortions has been struck down, reports the Detroit Free Press.
The state's legislature could have “virtually guaranteed” an enforceable anti-abortion law by enacting one that mirrored an Ohio anti-abortion statute previously upheld by the 6th Circuit, the appeals court wrote in its opinion. Instead, the legislature "opted to use statutory language that pushed almost every boundary that the Supreme Court has imposed for these types of laws.”
Meanwhile, the April 18 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a federal law that bans partial-birth abortions has prompted discord among groups that normally band together to oppose abortion, reports the Washington Post. Some have hailed the decision as a victory, but others complain that it bans abortions only rarely under narrowly defined circumstances.