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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (54551)	6/28/1999 8:59:00 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Judge OKs Late-Term Abortion Ban May 31, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MADISON, WIS. - The Associated Press via NewsEdge Corporation : A Wisconsin law that bars a type of late-term abortion, carrying a potential term of life in prison, is constitutional, a federal judge ruled today. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and six physicians had sued the state shortly after the law was enacted more than a year ago, saying it was unconstitutionally vague, with language so broad that it could outlaw other types of abortions. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz said the law, aimed at what critics call ''partial birth abortions,'' is not vague. He also held that it does not place an undue burden on women and that the state does have a valid interest in banning the procedure. ''The partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary to preserve the health of the woman,'' Shabaz said. ''The legislature did not adopt the act for the purpose of placing an obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion.'' Opponents of the law said the ruling would be appealed. A federal appellate had blocked enforcement while the case was pending. Shabaz continued that injunction as the matter continues through the appeals process. Similar laws have been fully or partially blocked by courts in 19 of the 28 states that passed them, according to the New York-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy. The decision came about three hours after attorneys gave their closing arguments. Roger Evans, a lawyer for Planned Parenthood, said the state's case relied on a ''vaporous sense of understanding'' what exactly the law is supposed to prohibit. The statute is ''vague in the sense that it seems to ban some, if not all, of those common (abortion) procedures'' that were not specifically targeted by the law, Evans said. Attorney General Susan Ullman said the law applies to what is called dilation and evacuation in medical terms. In her closing arguments, Ullman said ''plaintiffs know full well that the definition of partial birth abortion in the Wisconsin statute only defines (dilation and evacuation) and doctors know what that procedure is.'' The law prohibits an abortion in which a doctor ''partially vaginally delivers a living child, causes the death of the partially delivered child with the intent to kill the child, and then completes delivery.'' Doctors would be subject to first-degree murder charges and life in prison if convicted. Patients would not be punished. A physician who challenged Wisconsin's late-term abortion law testified Thursday that the statute's language is so vague that he cannot tell whether it would send him to prison. ''If I am going to be subject to going to jail for the rest of my life, no, I would not continue to perform abortions,'' Dr. Dennis Christensen of Madison said. But Dr. Harlen Giles of Pittsburgh, testifying for the state, said, ''I've never faced a situation in which (the procedure) was medically necessary. I consider it cruel and unusual punishment that causes pain to the fetus when it is performed.'' [Copyright 1999, Associated Press]