Supreme Court to hear partial-birth abortion case

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court announced Feb. 21 it will decide if a federal ban on partial-birth abortion is constitutional. The high court will review a decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals striking down the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act. The 8th Circuit was one of three appellate courts in recent months to affirm lower court rulings invalidating the 2003 law.

The justices will not hear oral arguments in the case, Gonzales vs. Carhart, until their next term, which will begin in October.

The law in question bars a procedure that is normally used in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy.