Supreme Court Upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban

April 23. 2007

In what is welcome news to many, the Supreme Court made a prudent and humane decision in upholding the partial birth abortion ban. It is a terrible way for an unborn, but not un-alive, baby to die. I am not for abortion, but even so, this particular form of abortion is barbaric and uncivil:

Abortion rate here is high; foes see hope in court ruling

Thousands of Staten Island women take advantage every year of their right to get an abortion.

But last week's Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on partial-birth abortions was lauded by many Island politicians who hope that abortion will eventually be illegal.

More than one-quarter of all Staten Island pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005. Some 2,661 Island women in that year -- out of 8,909 who were expecting -- or 29.8 percent -- made the difficult decision to end their pregnancies, according to the city's vital statistics.

Most of the women were between the ages of 20 and 29. The vast majority of Island women who get abortions leave the borough, heading to Manhattan or Brooklyn for the procedure. In 2005, 1,132 of these women went to Manhattan, 1,118 went to Brooklyn and 280 stayed close to home.

A desire for anonymity might account for the off-Island preference, or it may be the fact that there are far more abortion clinics in other boroughs. Most of the 88,891 city women who chose abortion in 2005 went to clinics in either Manhattan or Brooklyn, according to city vital statistics.

About 20 percent of the city's abortions that year occurred after the fetuses' 12-week development. Many legal experts do not believe Wednesday's ruling is the first step in overturning Roe vs. Wade. But the 5-to-4 decision was among the first to allow a specific abortion procedure to be banned with no exception for a woman's health since 1973. And with President George Bush's more conservative Supreme Court appointees in place, many people are discussing how this ruling will fit into the future legality of abortion. - Staten Island Advocate