Late-term abortion ban could be first test for new justices
Detroit Free Press
BY GINA HOLLAND
Sept 27, 2005
Late-term abortion ban could be first test for new justices WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate a national ban on a type of late-term abortion, a case that could thrust the president's first court picks into an early tie-breaking role on a divisive and emotional issue. The appeal follows a two-year legal fight over the law and highlights the power that President George W. Bush's nominees will have. A few months ago, there would have been five votes to strike down the law, which bars so-called partial-birth abortion. The outcome is now uncertain, with moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retiring and her replacement not announced. "This is as live a controversy as you can get," Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, said Monday. Abortion already was expected to be a major subject in the next round of confirmation hearings, just as it was with the hearings of John Roberts for chief justice. The Senate began debating Roberts' nomination Monday with confirmation expected this week. Bush had supported the 2003 law outlawing what he termed an "abhorrent practice." Former President Bill Clinton twice vetoed similar bills, saying they lacked an exception to protect the health of the mother, something the Supreme Court has said is required in abortion laws. The law signed by Bush was challenged even before it took effect and has never been enforced. Doctors who perform the procedure contend it is the safest method of abortion when the mother's health is threatened by heart disease, high blood pressure or cancer. In its last major abortion ruling, the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote struck down Nebraska's partial-birth abortion law in 2000. O'Connor, who voted with the majority, said a similar law could pass muster if it were limited to that particular procedure and included an exception to preserve the mother's life and health. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died this month, had voted to uphold the Nebraska law. The earliest that justices could hear arguments on the law is spring. By then, the court should have two new members. "It will tell us something about the new justices. I don't think it will tell us everything people would like to know about them," said Jonathan Entin, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University.
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