Cheers, jeers, lawsuits follow abortion bill
The Detroit News
BY Deb Price and Alison Bethel
Political, legal drama shapes up as a key issue in '04 electionWASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortions, setting off a historic new battle over the future of abortion rights in the nation. Legal, political, moral and deeply emotional issues are involved in the action, which will play a major role in next year's presidential election. Less than an hour after Bush signed the measure, a federal judge in Nebraska issued a limited order blocking the new law, citing concerns that it made no exception for a woman's health. Two other lawsuits also have been filed to overturn the first federal restriction on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court's key decision in 1973 recognizing a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. For now, the temporary stay only affects four doctors who sued in Nebraska, but legal uncertainties likely will make doctors in other states reluctant to perform the procedures. "The immediate impact based on the Nebraska decision is confusion," said David Seldin of NARAL Pro-Choice America. But a very real risk is that a woman who was more than 12 or 13 weeks pregnant and told by her doctor that an abortion was the safest course (because of a serious health ailment) could not be sure she could obtain an abortion legally in Michigan as of 12:01 Thursday." Bush vowed to "vigorously defend" the law against legal challenges at the ceremony attended by 400 supporters, including Barbara Listing, president of Right to Life of Michigan. "For years, a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth, while the law looked the other way," Bush said. "Today, at last, the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child." The law bans procedures that would kill a partially delivered fetus, including cases where a woman's health is in danger or a child would be born deformed. Sponsors of the new law say "partial-birth" abortion is used roughly 2,200 times a year, principally during the 20th through 26th weeks of pregnancy. In Michigan, 29,231 abortions were performed in 2002, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. The agency does not break down numbers of "partial-birth" abortions, which generally are performed in the second and third trimesters. However, 195 abortions were performed between 21 and 24 weeks into the pregnancy, 23 between 25 to 28 weeks, and 19 after more than 28 weeks, according to the agency. Emotional issue By signing the bill, Bush delivered to abortion foes the victory they've been seeking since Republicans took over the U.S. House in the 1994 elections, only to see similar legislation vetoed twice by President Bill Clinton. But Bush also handed the emotional issue over to his opponents, who warned a second term would enable the Republican president to appoint new Supreme Court justices who would outlaw any abortions. "If we could afford to, we would put that speech on television every day from now until the election," said Kate Michelman, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. " ... Any shred of doubt that this is the most anti-choice president this country has ever had has been convincingly erased." In 2000, the Supreme Court by a narrow 5-4 vote struck down a Nebraska law banning "partial-birth" abortions. The next president could appoint as many as four justices to the rapidly graying court. Michigan will be one of the states where the abortion issue could have the most impact in the 2004 race. The state will be hotly fought over by both parties, although it has gone Democratic in the last three presidential elections. "We are going to use the 2004 election to make sure Michigan voters know that Roe v. Wade will be dismantled by this president if he has the opportunity to appoint any more anti-choice Supreme Court justices," said MARAL Pro-Choice Michigan executive director Rebekah Warren, referring to the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision recognizing abortion rights. "The 2004 election will be a referendum on the right to choose." On the other side of the debate, Listing said her group will use the law to mobilize anti-abortion voters. "We would like to see Roe v. Wade erased," said Listing, adding that she expects Bush will appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices who will do just that. Democrats critical All nine Democratic presidential candidates oppose restrictions on abortion rights and several criticized Bush for signing the law. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman warned that the law "broadly threatens the right to choose ... (and) utterly disregards the safety and well-being of the mother." Democrat Howard Dean, a physician, said it "will chill the practice of medicine and endanger the health of countless women." Last week, Bush said he would not seek an outright ban on abortions because the country was not ready. But White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush would support further restrictions. Anticipating that lawsuits could delay operation of the new law, perhaps for years, Listing and other abortion foes are launching a voter petition drive to try to pass a Michigan ban on "partial-birth" abortions to take effect in the interim. Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed the "Legal Birth Definition Act" on Oct. 10, which would ban similar procedures to those defined in the nation's new law. The petition drive would throw the issue back to the legislature, bypassing Granholm. Federal courts have twice struck down Michigan laws aimed at banning the controversial procedure. Yale Kamisar, a law professor at the University of Michigan, expects the Supreme Court would question the new law given its ruling in 2000. "I think here, as elsewhere, many members of Congress are not concerned about the constitutionality of the law. They just want to go on record as saying they are against it (partial-birth abortion) because it's good for them politically," he said. Abortion tug-of-war Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former speech writer to President Dwight Eisenhower, predicts any political gain in the abortion tug-of-war will go to Bush. Bush has effectively positioned himself on the issue by supporting restrictions favored by most Americans, Hess said. Polls consistently show Americans divided over abortion rights. Most support some restrictions, but 60 percent do not want Roe v. Wade overturned. However, 68 percent of Americans support making "partial-birth" abortions illegal, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Oct. 24-26. "The president gets a free ride with this one," Hess said. "He energizes his base. ... It freaks out those who would never have voted for him in the first place." But most voters, like Vita Pitingaro, a 37-year-old homemaker and swing voter from Shelby Township, are likely to cast their presidential vote on other issues. Despite being an abortion-rights supporter, she remains open to supporting Bush. "There are more important issues than just abortion," said the mother of three, adding her vote is likely to be determined by what unfolds in Iraq. Detroit News wire services contributed to this report. You can reach Deb Price at (202) 662-7384 or dprice@detnews.com.
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