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Bush to Sign Partial Birth Abortion Ban
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer
November 5, 2003, 12:03 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is handing abortion opponents a victory sought through seven years of political battle as he signs legislation that bans some abortions. But in a likely prelude of obstacles that linger, a federal judge in Nebraska sharply questioned the constitutionality of the legislation to be signed into law.
"It seems to me the law is highly suspect, if not a per se violation of the Constitution," U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said Wednesday at the outset of a hearing in Lincoln, Neb., on an attempt to stop the law from taking effect.
The president's signature represents an end to a legislative crusade that began when Republicans captured the House in 1995. Former President Clinton twice vetoed similar bills, arguing that they lacked an exception to protect the health of the mother.
In advance of Bush's plans for a signing ceremony with fanfare at a federal building named for former President Ronald Reagan, an erstwhile supporter of anti-abortion groups, the president' spokesman said that Bush "is strongly committed to building a culture of life in America."
"This legislation enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. "Partial birth abortion is an abhorrent procedure, and the president has strongly supported banning it."
The bill Bush has said he was pleased to usher into law forbids an abortion, generally performed in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed, usually by having its skull punctured.
But despite Bush's strong anti-abortion credentials, he also is mindful of the more moderate voters he cannot afford to alienate. So last week during a news conference with reporters, Bush repeated a position he offered during his 2000 campaign, saying he would not seek a total ban on abortion because public opinion had not yet shifted to support such a move.
The bill prohibits doctors from committing an "overt act" designed to kill a partially delivered fetus. There is no exception to the ban if the woman's health is at risk of if the child would be born with ailments.
Similar to a Nebraska law struck down by the Supreme Court three years ago, the legislation imposes the most far-reaching limits on abortion since the high court in 1973 established a woman's right to end a pregnancy.
Supporters argue the bill applies only to a procedure done late in pregnancy -- and relatively rarely -- and that the procedure is never necessary to protect the health of the mother. But abortion-rights groups say the law has overly broad language that could criminalize several safe and common procedures.
Opponents have attacked the legislation in three separate challenges, including the one in Nebraska. Other challenges are pending in San Francisco and New York City.
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