Abortion Procedure Bans Halted
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WASHINGTON — Illinois and Wisconsin bans on a type of late-term abortion were halted Tuesday by a Supreme Court justice.
Justice John Paul Stevens barred the two states from enforcing the laws while opponents ask the Supreme Court to decide whether they violate women’s right to abortion. A lower court upheld both laws, which ban a procedure opponents call “partial-birth abortion.”
The Wisconsin law, enacted last year, provides for life in prison for anyone performing the procedure except to save the mother’s life. The Illinois law, making the procedure a felony, was enacted in 1997.
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 5 to 4, to uphold the laws on Oct. 26, saying, “We conclude that both laws can be enforced in a constitutional manner.”
Since then, the appeals court twice refused to halt the laws’ enforcement but each time decided to reconsider. On Tuesday, the court refused a third time to block the laws, voting, 5 to 5.
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