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“Abortion harms women. No abortion contributes to the well-being of a woman. Finally, by upholding the ban on partial birth abortion, the Supreme Court of the land has recognized that “the woman’s health” can no longer be used as a smokescreen to justify this gruesome procedure of partial birth abortion.”
- Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., Heartbeat International President
Supreme Court Ruling Stops Abortionists from Performing
Partial-Birth Abortion
ALBERTO R. GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, PETITIONER v. LEROY CARHART ET AL.; ALBERTO R. GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, PETITIONER v. PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA, INC., ET AL. Nos. 05-380 and 05-1382 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
- The Gonzales v Carhart decision held: The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act does not impose an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion based on its over breadth or lack of a health exception.
- This is a victory because it is the first time that an abortion procedure has been banned nationwide since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The decision is significant because the “health of a woman” exception had been broadly interpreted as a result of the 1973 ruling Doe v. Bolton that the Supreme Court decided at the same time as the Roe v. Wade decision.
- In this 5-4 decision, Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy ruled in favor. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, formerly an attorney for the pro-abortion ACLU, dissented along with Justices Stevens, Souter and Breyer. Kennedy, considered a swing vote on abortion, sided with the majority so we can hope that this majority might hold if and when a case comes before the Supreme Court that might result in overturning Roe v. Wade.
- Our reaction is mixed, because the ban on partial birth abortion has no effect on the other 3,000 to 4,000 abortions performed daily in the United States. So Heartbeat’s Option Line, a joint venture with Care Net, continues to be available 24/7 to connect people in crisis to their closest pregnancy center. This support can be reached by phoning 1.800.395.HELP or at www.OptionLine.org.
- It is notable that Planned Parenthood Federation of America brought this case before the United States Supreme Court in an attempt to circumvent the Partial Birth Abortion Act. In addition, Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation and other doctors who perform partial birth abortions have brought lawsuits in California, New York and Nebraska in an effort to prevent enforcement of the Partial Birth Abortion Act.
- Heartbeat International and our affiliates advocate for the true reproductive health and well-being of women. Abortion is not a medical “treatment” that can improve a woman’s health. The very idea of an abortion to preserve a woman’s health is a smokescreen used to promote a culture characterized by sexual gratification separated from responsibility. Women we see in our pregnancy centers testify daily to the painful physical and emotional effects of abortion.
- We applaud the life affirming groups and all concerned citizens as well as state and federal legislators who have persevered over more than a decade in the fight to ban this barbaric and cruel procedure.
Heartbeat International, founded in 1971, is an interdenominational Christian association of nearly 1,100 pregnancy resource centers and post abortion groups in 48 states and 42 countries.
For additional comments from
President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., contact Virginia Cline at
(614) 885-7577.
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