Archive - Jul 8, 2005

Headlines (6:18)
A federal appeals court ruled that the ban on partial birth abortions is unconstitutional. The ban includes an exception to save the life of the mother, but the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis says that exceptions doesn't go far enough to regard the health of a woman. The ruling upholds a prior ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln Nebraska who heard one of three cases on the issue last year. A case in New York and San Francisco also ruled the ban unconstitional, which are also being appealed. Partial Birth Abortion, the name given to it by opponents, is a procedure in the second trimester where the fetus' skull is crushed. The issues is expected to reach the Supreme Court.