Washington D.C., Sep 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm
An official with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops praised the Justice Department’s appeal of two federal courts rulings against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Earlier this month, Judge Richard Kopf in Nebraska and Judge Richard Casey in New York ruled against the Act.
In his lengthy opinion, Judge Kopf cited testimony that babies are alive during a partial-birth abortion, that the baby's heart can be seen beating before its head is punctured, and that partial-birth abortion is "excruciatingly painful for a fetus."
Judge Richard Casey stated in his opinion that partial-birth abortion is "a gruesome, brutal, barbaric, and uncivilized medical procedure" but he ruled against the Act under his reading of prior Supreme Court cases, in particular Stenberg v. Carhart.
"We are hopeful that the ban on partial-birth abortion ultimately will be upheld," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., spokesperson for the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. "But no matter how the legal questions are finally resolved, these trials will have accomplished something extremely significant: they will have gotten the abortion industry on the record, under oath, admitting the horrifying truth about abortion."