NEW YORK — In its ongoing bid to defend the partial-birth abortion ban against seven Planned Parenthood abortionists, the Justice Department has won a small victory in New York. On March 18, federal judge Richard Conway Casey ordered New York Presbyterian Hospital to release the medical records for women who have undergone partial-birth abortions there. Judge Casey has ruled that the move would not subject women involved to any invasion of privacy, given that all identifying information would first be removed from the files.
The Planned Parenthood abortionists have filed suit against the Justice Department to challenge the constitutionality of the ban introduced by U.S. President George W. Bush last November. The abortionists argue that the procedure is medically necessary for the health of some expectant mothers.
The ban states, in part, that “partial-birth abortion is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary.” The issue of what is or is not medically necessary is precisely what the Department is trying to verify and has until now been unable to do so since knowledge of the health or circumstances surrounding each instance has remained legally protected.
See also:
ACLU/Doctors Challenge Partial Birth Abortion Ban
New York Hospital Is Ordered to Release Abortion Records
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
