Stenberg v. Carhart

Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) was the Supreme Court decision which invalidated state laws against partial-birth abortion. In the case, a Nebraska law outlawed partial-birth abortion even in cases where the mother's life was in danger. The ruling was by the narrowest of margins, 5-4, and one of the Justices in the majority (Sandra Day O'Connor) has been replaced by Justice Samuel Alito.

Opinions

The main opinion of the court, written by Stephen Breyer, stated that following the precedent of Planned Parenthood v. Casey any law which put an "undue burden" on a woman's "right to choose" was unconstitutional. Ruth Bader Ginsburg,Paul Stevens, and O'Connor wrote concurrences which focused on the health concerns and the doctor-patient relationship. In particular, O'Connor wrote that such a law required an exception for allowing the procedure if it was necessary for the health of the mother.

Dissents

Anthony Kennedy wrote a dissent arguing that the law was consistent with Casey since Casey allowed some laws protecting the fetuses. Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia wrote separate additional dissents rejecting that there was any right to an abortion at all and thus not recognizing any logic which used Casey or Roe v. Wade. Indeed, Scalia went so far in his dissent to attack Kennedy's claims that the majority was not following Casey and argued furthermore that the decision by the majority demonstrated a reducio ad absurdam of Casey.

A federal law banning partial-birth abortion was signed into law in 2003. Entitled the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 760, S 3), it passed in the House with a vote of 281-142 and in the Senate with a vote of 64-34. Federal courts have prevented it from ever taking effect, decisions are one review (March 2007) by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart.