Abortion Ruling Signals Historic Shift

Apr. 20, 2007— -- The Supreme Court's landmark abortion decision this week represents a seismic shift that retools the debate over abortion and is certain to encourage more restrictions and regulations in states across the country.

Just days after the decision, lawmakers in states such as Alabama already have introduced tough new bills that would restrict the procedure. Others are expected to follow South Carolina, which is now considering legislation that would require women seeking abortions to first view ultrasound images of their fetuses.

"We are going to see a whole new onslaught of restrictions on abortions coming out of this decision," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented one of the abortion doctors in the case.

Beyond the abortion issue, the blockbuster decision also signals the beginning of the new Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts. It likely will bolster Roberts' efforts, which he's discussed publicly, to convince his colleagues to approach cases in a more restrained way.

On its face, the ruling seemed narrow. The Court upheld a bipartisan federal law, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which prohibited one rarely used abortion procedure typically done in the second trimester. The vast majority of the 1.3 million abortions a year -- 85 to 90 percent -- are done in the first trimester.

Congress passed the law in 2003, after the Court struck down similar state laws banning this second-trimester abortion procedure in 2000. But Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was on the bench in the 2000, and she provided the key fifth vote for the liberal justices who believed the state laws were unconstitutional.

A change in the Court's makeup -- Justice Samuel Alito replacing O'Connor -- made the difference this time.

In upholding the federal law the Court, for the first time since Roe v. Wade, said the government could ban a substantive abortion procedure. But the decision was about much more than banning a specific procedure.

"This is a huge shift in the whole abortion issue," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. "This is the most significant victory the pro-life has ever had."