Virginia Abortion Restriction Upheld

Virginia abortion restriction upheld in a contentious 6-5 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The law, which had been declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the same court in 2005, bans the practice of partial birth abortion, the procedure in which the child is partially delivered from the mother’s womb before being killed. After the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, they ordered the 4th Circuit to revisit its prior ruling on Virginia’s statute. The decision ends a 6-year fight by the last five Virginia state Attorneys General in defense of the constitutionality the Virginia ban.