WASHINGTON, September 28, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it would appeal the latest of three court decisions declaring the ban on the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf in Lincoln, Nebraska handed down the ruling now being appealed. In a decision handed down in early September, Kopf ruled that the law banning partial birth abortion is unconstitutional because it does not include an exception for the ‘health of the mother.’
The law contains a clause for exceptions for the ‘life’ of the mother but not her health. The exception for ‘health’ has proven to be a wide open door for abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy, with the term ‘health’ being interpreted so broadly as to make it effectively meaningless.
Former president Clinton, a vigorous supporter of abortion, vetoed two previous attempts to ban the brutal practice with the same justification, that of the ‘health’ of the mother. Abundant expert testimony was provided showing such an exception was meaningless. The appeal will focus on this aspect of the ruling as well as Kopf’s assertion that the new law poses an undue burden on a woman’s access to abortion. The Justice Department had filed an appeal of the earlier San Francisco ruling, which also declared the partial-birth ban unconstitutional, saying that it “will continue to defend the law to protect innocent new life from partial-birth abortion.” See LifeSite’s coverage of Kopf’s ruling: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/sep/04090805.html