Partial-Birth Ban Upheld

On April 18, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled a federal law which bans partial-birth abortion was constitutional. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was passed with bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate before being signed by President Bush. It was challenged in court and has been making its way through the courts for the last number of years. Over the years, numerous experts have testified this method of ending the lives of children who are more born than unborn is not needed to preserve a woman’s life or health.

This decision will also likely affect Michigan’s Legal Birth Definition Act. The Legal Birth Definition was designed to end partial-birth abortion in Michigan by declaring legal birth and the commencement of legal rights occur when any part of the living child is outside of the mother. This citizen-initiated legislation passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support in both the Michigan House and Senate after more than 460,000 Michigan voters signed a petition to override Governor Granholm’s veto. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the Legal Birth Definition in October and a decision about this law’s constitutionality will be forthcoming in the future.

Right to Life of Michigan hopes this decision signals that other commonsense pieces prolife legislation won’t be overturned in the future. With the help of prolife legislation, the number of abortion performed in Michigan has dropped by nearly 50% in the last 18 years.