The Significance of Gonzales vs. Carhart

Supreme Court, Abortion, Roe v. Wade, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Debate, Precedent, Late-Term, Partial-Birth

In the United States Supreme Court case Gonzales vs. Carhart, the Court ruled on the validity of the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act [1].

A partial birth abortion occurs when a baby is brought partly through the birth canal so that an abortionist may perform an act that will cause the baby to die.

After the ban had been instituted on partial birth abortion, Gonzales vs. Carhart was brought before the Supreme Court to verify the validity of the ban under Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion.

The Supreme Court decided that partial birth abortion ban is legal under the constitution, though the court at this time still found that the Roe vs. Wade decision allows abortion through stages of pre-viability.

It should be noted that the vast majority of the American public is against partial birth abortion.

According to an ABC poll, sixty-nine percent of the American public thinks that partial birth abortions should be illegal [2].

They have the greatest opposition of all abortions, and also account for the smallest number. Fewer than one percent of all abortions are partial birth abortions [3].

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References

[1] Cornell University Law School. (2007). ” Gonzales vs. Carhart.”Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 18 Apr 2007. Web. 15 Jul 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-380.ZS.html

[2]Sussman, Dalia. (2004). Conditional Support. ABC News.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/abortion_poll030122.html

[3] Ibid

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