The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 760, S 3) (1) (or "PBA Ban") is a United States law that bans partial-birth abortion made in or affecting interstate commerce. Partial-birth abortion is defined in the law as:

an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery.

The PBA ban enjoyed the support of the American Medical Association and large majorities of the American public. It passed both chambers of Congress with sizeable bi-partisan majorities: 281-142 in the House of Representatives and 64-34 in the United States Senate. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 5th, 2003. At the time it became law, whether it would take legal effect in all 50 states was uncertain due to the presence of several court challenges. Implementation of the bill was quickly blocked by federal judges in San Francisco, California, New York and Lincoln, Nebraska. For further information on the political and legal issues surrounding the bill, see Abortion in the United States.

Abortion advocates such as NARAL claimed that the bill lacked an exemption for the health of the mother—something that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor explicitly stated would be necessary for such a ban to be constitutional in her opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart, which struck down a similar Nebraska law. However, the bill does contain an exemption for the health of the mother, though it is not as broadly worded as NARAL would like: the bill states that it "does not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself." The bill's "findings" section also states that such abortions are never medically necessary, but the bill's opponents claimed that there was no known precedent for Congress attempting to overturn the will of the Supreme Court through the findings section of a bill. In addition, supporters claimed that these abortions were morally wrong, a belief which polls showed most Americans shared, but which was disputed by abortion advocates.

Status of the Law

June 1, 2004

Federal District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of California struck it down on June 1, 2004 on three grounds (2):

• Because it places an 'undue burden' (i.e., "a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.") on women seeking abortion.
• Because its language is unconstitutionally vague.
• Because it lacks constitutionally-required provisions to preserve women's health (the law only provides for cases in which a woman's life is at risk).

A nationwide injunction was withheld while waiting for similar decisions from Federal Courts of Nebraska and New York.

August 26, 2004

United States District Judge Richard C. Casey found the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional. He ruled that the act must contain exceptions to protect a woman's life and health; the text of the act allows an exception to the ban in the case of risk to the woman's life, but it does not consider risks to her health.

References

1. The text of the law from the U.S. Government Printing Office (External Link, PDF)
2. Planned Parenthood vs. United States Decision (External Link, PDF)