AP News, April 18th, 2007
A sampling of abortion cases yet to be sorted out by federal courts following the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling upholding a federal ban on a controversial procedure that critics call "partial-birth abortion":
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_INFORMED CONSENT: A lawsuit challenging a South Dakota law that would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure ends a human life.
The 2005 state law, which also requires doctors to warn women that abortions might cause psychological harm and lead to suicide, has been put on hold by a federal court while the case is being heard.
Both sides say if the law is upheld it will likely be duplicated around the nation. The case is in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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_ABORTION PILLS: A lawsuit challenging Ohio law making it illegal for doctors to prescribe mifepristone, known as RU-486, after the seventh week of pregnancy. Under federal guidelines, the drug cannot be prescribed after 56 days, or eight weeks, of pregnancy.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott in the 6th Circuit ruled last September that the Ohio law was unconstitutional, saying it was confusing and doctors couldn't be expected to understand its requirements.
The appeals court had previously stopped short of rejecting the entire law, but said it could be deemed unconstitutional unless lawmakers added an exemption for cases in which women would be at greater risk through surgical abortions.
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_PRISON ABORTIONS: Lawsuit challenging federal ruling that allows women prisoners in Missouri to get abortions.
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state had to allow a specific inmate, listed as Jane Roe, to have an abortion. That came after prison officials abandoned a long-standing policy of providing transportation and guards for inmates wanting abortions, except in cases where the inmate's life or health was endangered.
The American Civil Liberties Union is now suing to give all women prisoners in Missouri that same right to abortion. The case is in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Source: AP research, Americans United for Life, Planned Parenthood.
