The US supreme court may have signalled a new, harder line against abortion laws after its decision yesterday, with the New York Times reporting that its decision "promises to reframe the abortion debate". The 5-4 decision upheld a law banning a specific and infrequent type of abortion, known as "partial-birth".
"While the ruling will thus have a direct impact on only a relatively small subset of abortion practice, the decision has broader implications for abortion regulations generally, indicating a change in the court's balancing of the various interests involved in the abortion debate," the NYT reported.
The ruling is the first involving abortion under the new chief justice John Roberts, appointed last year by George Bush.
In a strongly-worded leader, the paper's editorial writers said yesterday's decision "severely eroded the constitutional respect and protection accorded to women and the personal decisions they make about pregnancy and childbirth." It also undermined a fundamental aspect of the landmark Roe v Wade decision that first legalised abortion thoughout the US, that all abortion restrictions should carry an exemption to protect the health of the mother.
Presidential candidates took starkly opposing views of the decision, with Republicans celebrating the result and Democratic candidates deploring it.
