NCJW Denounces Senate Vote on So-Called ''Partial Birth Abortion''
October 22, 2003, Washington, DC -- The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) denounced yesterday's Senate vote approving the so-called Partial Birth Abortion conference report which omits a nonbinding resolution expressing support for the Roe v. Wade decision and supports the unconstitutional ban on a woman's right to choose. NCJW President Marsha Atkind called the campaign in favor of the ban both dangerous and deceptive.
"This legislation (S. 3) is an unconstitutional and dangerous attack on the health and rights of women. Its supporters claim that it only bans a single 'late term' abortion procedure, but, in fact, S. 3 would ban numerous safe and healthy abortion procedures during all three trimesters. The bill imposes an undue burden on women seeking access to abortion services; subjects doctors who perform abortions banned in the bill to fines, arrest, and imprisonment; unduly interferes in the doctor-patient relationship; and places women's health at risk.
"The Supreme Court recently rejected an almost identical ban in Stenberg v. Carhart because it posed an unconstitutional threat to women's health and lives. The Supreme Court based its 2000 decision on the fact that the ban would have prevented women from obtaining the safest methods of abortion and it lacked an exception in cases where the health of the mother was in jeopardy. The bill that passed the Senate yesterday fails to remedy these flaws. If the bill is signed into law, it would be the first federal law criminalizing an established abortion procedure.
"NCJW salutes the 34 Senators and 142 Representatives who voted against this bill under enormous pressure from anti-abortion advocates, aided by a duplicitous campaign minimizing the extent of the bill's reach. We are disappointed that so many of their colleagues chose to disregard the health needs of some pregnant women, placing their own judgments above those of physicians."
NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members, supporters and volunteers nationwide. It has launched BenchMark: NCJW's Campaign to Save Roe, a national effort to educate and mobilize NCJW members, the Jewish community, and friends and allies everywhere to promote a federal bench with judges who support fundamental freedoms, including a woman's right to choose.
Contact:
Carolyn J. Ratner
202 296 2588; carolyn@ncjwdc.org