Fourth Circuit ruling on late-term abortion highlights women’s health as priority Commentary
Fourth Circuit ruling on late-term abortion highlights women’s health as priority
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Courtney E. Jones [grassroots organizer, Virginia League for Planned Parenthood]: "Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia welcomes the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to strike down Virginia's burdensome ban on late-term abortions. The Court stated that the onerous 2003 law "imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to obtain an abortion."

This is the second time Virginia has disregarded the health of women when enacting an abortion ban, and it's the second time the courts have ruled that ignoring women's health violates the Constitution. Given that the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the most conservative in the country, their decision emphasizes that protections for the woman's health must be the priority in cases like this.

In 2000, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Stenberg v. Carhart led to the reversal of Virginia's abortion ban of the late 1990s. Though last year's Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood upheld the federal ban on late-term abortions, the Virginia ban is far more restrictive and vague. As a result, the appeals court struck down Virginia's latest abortion ban.
Virginia lawmakers can better reduce the incidence of abortion by empowering women rather than hurting them. Our legislators can do far more to prevent unintended pregnancies and abortions by increasing access to family planning, comprehensive sex education, and affordable access to contraception.

Planned Parenthood will continue to advocate at the state and federal levels for increased access to reproductive health care and for age-appropriate sexuality education that stresses abstinence and also provides birth control information."

Opinions expressed in JURIST Commentary are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, donors or the University of Pittsburgh.