Stenberg v. Carhart

Stenberg v. Carhart was a case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with Partial-birth abortion, specifically a Nebraska law which made performing a specific type of abortion illegal, punishable by revoking of the physician's license. Nebraska, like many states, had banned this procedure on the basis of public morality. The Court struck down the law mainly due to the fact that it did not make an exception for the woman's health, and also due to the ambiguity of the statute.

The U.S. Supreme Court Ruling

The case was argued in 2000, and several issues were brought up during the oral arguments. The first was the lack of an exception for the woman's health. The state of Nebraska took the position that D&X abortions were never medically necessary, meaning that an exception was not needed. Secondly, it was inquired on whether or not the law could be construed to apply to other forms of abortion, in which case it would violate the "right to privacy" construed to emanate from the Constitution, as described in the Roe and Casey decisions. The law had never been certified to the Supreme Court of Nebraska, as it had been challenged two days after the law was passed.

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Justice Stephen Breyer, in writing the opinion of the Court, cited Planned Parenthood v. Casey and said that any abortion law that imposed an undue burden on a woman's "right to choose" (abortion) was unconstitutional. He said that causing those who procure abortions to "fear prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment" was an undue burden, and therefore declared the law to be against the Constitution. Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, and Sandra Day O'Connor all agreed that the law was unconstitutional, but Ginsburg wrote a separate opinion, as did O'Connor. Ginsburg stated plainly that a state could not force physicians to use procedures other than what they felt in their own judgment to be the safest, that this was part of the "life and liberty" protected under the Constitution. O'Connor agreed, saying that any such procedural law would have to be applied only to prevent unnecessary partial-birth abortions, and would have to include an exception for the health of the mother (as this law did not). Justices Ginsburg and Stevens also filed separate opinions, Stevens noting that the government, in his view, had no right to force doctors to perform any procedure other than what they felt would be the safest.

Related Topics:
Stephen Breyer - Planned Parenthood v. Casey - John Paul Stevens - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - David Souter - Sandra Day O'Connor

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