Constitutional Law
4th Circuit Strikes Down Va.'s Late-Term Abortion Ban, Again
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions, the Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit struck down Virginia’s late-term law as unconstitutional.
The 2-1 decision comes after the Supreme Court asked the 4th Circuit to reconsider its 2005 ruling striking down the law, reports the Associated Press and the Washington Post’s Virginia Politics blog.
In the opinion (PDF via Post), the court noted that the bans differed in that the federal law protects doctors who set out to perform a legal abortion and the Virginia law doesn’t offer the same protection.
