The Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments today, April 25 on whether states may ban a rare and controversial surgical procedure called "partial-birth abortion" by opponents.
At issue is a 1997 Nebraska law banning "partial-birth abortion" which was struck down by a federal appeals court last year. Thirty other states have similar bans, but most have also been struck down. President Bill Clinton has twice vetoed a federal ban.
The case is not a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion, however opponents and supporters agree the court could use it to affirm or restrict abortion rights.
"This is an important case because it will set the outer limit of the so-called right to abortion," James Bopp Jr., general counsel of the National Right to Life Committee told ABC News.
Janet Benshoof of the Center for Reproductive Law & Policy told ABC the ban's supporters are using the issue to attack abortion rights in general. "The Supreme Court will evaluate whether states have the right to force a woman to sacrifice her life and health to promote an extremist political agenda that seeks to outlaw abortion outright," said Benshoof.
"Partial-birth abortion" is not a medical term, but it has stirred a passionate debate in recent years due largely to its graphic nature. The Nebraska statute would bar a person from "partially delivering vaginally a living unborn child before killing the unborn child and completing the delivery."
State officials told ABC the ban targets a procedure called dilation and extraction, or D&X, which involves partially removing a fetus through the birth canal then cutting and draining the skull. About 650 of the 1.4 million total abortions in 1996 were D&X procedures, according to the health policy group Alan Guttmacher Institute. The procedure, most common between 20 and 24 weeks, is used most often in cases where the woman suffers from life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes.
Nebraska doctor LeRoy Carhart challenged his state's law on the grounds it is so vaguely worded it could be construed to include abortions other than the D&X procedures. Since physicians convicted under the law would lose their medical licenses and face up to 20 years in jail and $25,000 fines, Carhart argues the three known abortion providers in the state would likely stop.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Carhart's favor last September. But a month later, another federal appeals court upheld almost identical laws in Illinois and Wisconsin, setting the stage for the Supreme Court debate.
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