A federal judge on Monday struck down a Virginia abortion procedure ban. US District Court Judge Richard L. Williams ruled that the law was unconstitutional, finding that it violates the right to privacy, “impermissibly infringes on the fundamental right to choose abortion,” and endangers women’s health, according to the Washington Post. Like the federal abortion procedure ban, which is also facing legal challenges, the ban does not provide an exception to protect the woman’s health. A similar Nebraska abortion ban was struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2000 for that very reason in Stenberg v. Carhart.
Virginia’s law, the first to be passed since the 2000 Supreme Court ruling, never took effect because Williams blocked enforcement last July. Supporters of the ban have vowed to appeal this decision.
The Feminist Majority, along with its reproductive rights allies, is organizing a massive national March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC on April 25, 2004. “The recent passage of a federal abortion procedures ban is creating an outrage fueling the march,” said Feminist Majority March Coordinator Jessica Terlikowski.
TAKE ACTION Sign Up for the March for Women’s Lives!
