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**Supreme Court Abortion Case
**The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week about whether a federal law banning abortion in the second trimester is constitutional. Although the law was passed by Congress in 2003, it was later struck down by lower courts in California, Nebraska and New York. This current challenge is being brought by Dr. Leroy Carhart who runs an abortion clinic just outside Omaha and who has had previous success in overturning a similar Nebraska state law six years ago when the High Court ruled that it lacked an exception when the health of the mother was at risk. But proponents of the ban are using the term “partial-birth abortion” and graphic descriptions of the procedure in an effort to mobilize support.
Tim O’Brien reports on the issues shaping the framework of this high profile case and how the Justices’ ruling could impact future challenges to Roe v. Wade. Nancy Northup with the Center for Reproductive Rights, who is representing Dr. Carhart at the Supreme Court hearing, says, “It’s of great concern about whether the Court is going to follow its settled law. And it’s so important that it does because the notion that doctors need to put their patients first is critical.”
For transcripts and streaming video of previous reports related to this topic, click on the following links:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week913/newsfeature.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week839/perspectives.html
**The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week about whether a federal law banning abortion in the second trimester is constitutional. Although the law was passed by Congress in 2003, it was later struck down by lower courts in California, Nebraska and New York. This current challenge is being brought by Dr. Leroy Carhart who runs an abortion clinic just outside Omaha and who has had previous success in overturning a similar Nebraska state law six years ago when the High Court ruled that it lacked an exception when the health of the mother was at risk. But proponents of the ban are using the term “partial-birth abortion” and graphic descriptions of the procedure in an effort to mobilize support.
Tim O’Brien reports on the issues shaping the framework of this high profile case and how the Justices’ ruling could impact future challenges to Roe v. Wade. Nancy Northup with the Center for Reproductive Rights, who is representing Dr. Carhart at the Supreme Court hearing, says, “It’s of great concern about whether the Court is going to follow its settled law. And it’s so important that it does because the notion that doctors need to put their patients first is critical.”
For transcripts and streaming video of previous reports related to this topic, click on the following links:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week913/newsfeature.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week839/perspectives.html
