老澳门开奖结果

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NEW YORK - The National Abortion Federation (NAF) and the 老澳门开奖结果 today praised two rulings holding the 鈥淧artial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003鈥� unconstitutional. The decisions came out of federal appeals courts in New York and California. These rulings join an Eighth Circuit decision holding the ban unconstitutional.

鈥淲e are pleased that both courts have recognized that this ban needs an exception to protect women鈥檚 health,鈥� said Vicki Saporta, NAF President and CEO. 鈥淒octors and women should be able to make medical decisions free from interference by politicians.鈥�

In the Second Circuit ruling in New York, the court affirmed that the ban requires a health exception and asked for further legal briefing to determine how to remedy the violation. The Ninth Circuit in California affirmed the lower court decision striking down the ban.

鈥淓very court to have considered this ban has recognized that abortion laws must include protections for women鈥檚 health,鈥� said Talcott Camp, Deputy Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Reproductive Freedom Project. 鈥淐ongress should stop playing politics with women鈥檚 health and leave medical decisions to women and their doctors.鈥�

The Second Circuit case, NAF v. Gonzales, was brought by NAF and seven individual physicians represented by the 老澳门开奖结果, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, 老澳门开奖结果 of Illinois, and the New York Civil Liberties Union. The Ninth Circuit case was brought by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Gonzales) on behalf of Planned Parenthood affiliates throughout the country. In July 2005, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court鈥檚 ruling striking down the ban in a challenge brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights (Carhart v. Gonzales). The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear that case.

Congress passed the federal ban despite numerous court decisions, including a decision in 2000 by the Supreme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart, striking down similar state bans. Courts have consistently struck down the bans for two reasons: their broad language prohibits abortions as early as 13 weeks in pregnancy, and they lack exceptions to protect women鈥檚 health.

NAF is the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada. NAF members care for more than half the women who choose abortion each year in the United States and work at clinics, doctors' offices, and hospitals throughout the country, including premier teaching hospitals.

The 老澳门开奖结果 is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

For more information, visit:
www.aclu.org/ReproductiveRights/ReproductiveRightslist.cfm?c=148 and