Press Room

For immediate release
April 18, 2007

Contact: Peggy Hamill, State Director, (262) 796-1111, cell: (414) 416-0489
Marc Tuttle, Communications Director, (262) 796-1111, cell: (262) 408-0506

Supreme Court Upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act
Pro-lifers disappointed Roe v. Wade not addressed

Brookfield, Wis. -- The U.S. Supreme Court earlier today issued a 5-4 ruling upholding federal restrictions on partial birth abortion. The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 limits the use of this particularly gruesome abortion procedure to only cases in which a doctor deems a mother’s life to be threatened.

“The Supreme Court upheld the right of Congress to proscribe a specific abortion procedure, which is a step in the right direction,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “We’re also pleased that the debate surrounding partial birth abortion has raised awareness of the brutality of abortion.”

In addition, it is a hopeful sign that the majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy has long been considered a swing vote on abortion related cases, and the pro-life movement remains hopeful that he will eventually come to see the complete injustice of all abortion, no matter the procedure.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not take the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade and assert that Congress or the states have a right to actually ban abortion,” added Hamill. “In reality, the law that the Supreme Court upheld will only force abortionists to use another method, just as barbaric, to end a baby’s life. Unfortunately, abortion still remains legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy, for any reason whatsoever, just as the Court ruled in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

"As a movement, we're not about restricting one type of abortion," continued Hamill. "We're about restoring the right to life of every baby, at every age, protecting them from every type of abortion. Pro-Life Wisconsin urges state and federal governments to pass a true ban on all abortions, surgical and chemical, protecting the rights of the human person from the moment of fertilization until natural death, without exception. Then, God willing, the Supreme Court will undo the injustice of Roe v. Wade.”

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