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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Jun
6
Federal Appeals Court Blocks Michigan Abortion Ban
Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, legislation, reproductive justice, women’s health | Posted by Cara |
Two days ago, a federal appeals court thankfully declared a Michigan law banning “partial-birth” abortion unconstitutional.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the Michigan statute, the Legal Birth Definition Act, was worded so broadly that in addition to banning the procedure, it would also prohibit other legal abortion methods.
. . .
The law did not on its own terms ban any specific type of abortion procedure, Judge Boyce wrote. Instead, it created a protected legal status for a partly delivered fetus that it termed a “perinate.”
The decision upheld a 2005 ruling by a federal district judge in Detroit that found the law unconstitutional because it placed “an undue burden” on a woman’s right to have an abortion by also prohibiting a more common abortion procedure used in the second trimester of pregnancy, known as “dilation and evacuation.” The District Court also found that the term “perinate” was not a commonly used definition in the medical profession and added to the law’s vague language.
This seems to be a growing trend among state legislatures: passing additional laws to reinforce the Federal Abortion Ban that was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Such laws have several purposes. Firstly, now that such laws have been deemed constitutional, states are taking the opportunity to make the penalties harsher through state law. Secondly, it sends the message to reproductive rights activists– and women who need abortions– that the state is “tough” on abortion laws. Thirdly, as in this law, they intend to write vague regulations that increase the scope of the restrictions past D&X procedures to include a lot of late term D&E procedures.
Thankfully, the court saw through it this time. Of course, the real goal is to fight such proposed legislation before it gets this far, so that we don’t have to cross our fingers and rely on our often dubious court system.
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