Ban on Abortion Procedure is Likely

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Ban on abortion procedure is likely

By Adam Sichko, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 24, 2007

Washington -- The Supreme Court sent a Missouri abortion case back to a federal appeals court on Monday, ordering it to apply last week's decision upholding a federal ban on a disputed abortion procedure.

As a result, a 1999 Missouri law banning a medical procedure called dilation and extraction -- referred to by critics as "partial-birth abortion" -- is expected to take effect after years of legal wrangling.

In a 5-4 decision last week, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the procedure that President George W. Bush signed in 2003. Missouri's law and the federal ban are similar, though not identical.

Paula Gianino, who heads Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, said her agency intended to comply with the high court's ruling and Missouri's law. She added that Planned Parenthood was counseling women on the issue and preparing to provide legal support for doctors if needed

"We fully expected the Missouri law would go into effect as a result of last week's ruling," Gianino said.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Monday to lift its injunction against the state law, letting it take effect immediately. Nixon's office had appealed the court's 2005 decision that the state law was unconstitutional.

"This was the next step to take," said Scott Holste, a spokesman for Nixon. "Our goal all along has been to have the Missouri law upheld. That's what we do: defend state law."

Holste said the office had no indication of when the 8th Circuit would address the request. The court won't receive the mandate to act on the high court's order for 25 days, according to Supreme Court rules.

The high court also took similar action with a state law in Virginia, which, like the Missouri law, establishes the felony crime of "infanticide."

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