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UPDATE - Law Limiting Abortion Ruled Unconstitutional

MISSING reported that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed the medical records of women who had had a procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, currently outlawed under the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act." This request was made despite the fact that these women were not parties to a lawsuit brought against the Department by doctors who are questioning the constitutionality of the Act.

On April 26, 2004 the Justice Department withdrew their subpoenas from Manhattan hospitals, settling a dispute in New York civil courts over the matter. New York is one of three states with current lawsuits challenging the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act." In March 2004, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago (for the Lincoln, Nebraska case) upheld a lower court's findings that the release of Northwestern Memorial Hospital records would invade patients' privacy. In California, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that the government could not obtain medical records.

On June 1, 2004 Judge Hamilton also ruled that the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act" was unconstitutional , finding that it infringes on a woman's right to choose.

On August 2, 2004, Planned Parenthood and the Associated Press reported that John Ashcroft and the Department of Justice filed an appeal to overturn the June 1 decision by Federal District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, which ruled the 2003 “Partial-Birth” Abortion Ban unconstitutional. In her ruling, Judge Hamilton cited the law’s lack of a provision which takes into consideration the health of women. Planned Parenthood President, Gloria Feldt, stated that: “The court was right to strike down this dangerous law and Attorney General Ashcroft is wrong to squander Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars to fund his anti-choice crusade.”

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