Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill outlawing partial-birth abortions. This bill, which President Bush will quickly sign into law, flies in the face of the 1971 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. This pending bill is one more loss for women's rights and one more victory for the Republican war against women.
Partial birth abortions are usually used only in the most extreme situations. This bill goes so far as to willfully ignore a woman's right to life by placing the rights of a fetus over the life of a living, breathing human.
Furthermore, Roe stated governmental intrusion during pregnancy violates women's right to privacy, yet this bill reaches beyond violations of privacy.
The Supreme Court has struck down similar state laws for not providing an exception when a woman's life is in danger. In Stenberg v. Carhart, the majority declared??the state may not endanger a woman's health when regulating abortion.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said, \This bill reads as if the authors carefully studied the Supreme Court decisions, then went out of their way to thumb their noses at 30 years of constitutional law,"" according to The New York Times.
This bill undermines basic rights and should be quickly struck down.
