WASHINGTON (July 8, 2005)—Gail Quinn, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a statement on today's decision by a federal appeals court in Nebraska which upheld a ruling that the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is unconstitutional.

This is the text of Ms. Quinn's statement:

Resting on the Supreme Court's widely criticized Stenberg v. Carhart decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today declared the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 unconstitutional. The court cited the law's lack of a "health" exception (defined in Doe v. Bolton as including all factors relating to a woman's "well-being.") But it makes no sense to say one must kill a child who is more than half born to advance the mother's health instead of simply completing a live delivery.

The American Medical Association has said that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary. To claim it as a constitutional right makes a mockery of the U.S. Constitution.

There is no place in a civilized society for this cruel and dangerous practice, and we look forward to today's decision being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
Department of Communications | 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington DC 20017-1194 | (202) 541-3000 © USCCB. All rights reserved.