New Jersey Court Ruling on Abortion Ban Protects Women's Health and Lives, ACLU Says

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWARK, NJ — The American Civil Liberties Union is encouraged by a decision of the court of appeals striking down a deceptively vague and dangerous law that would have put women’s health at risk and banned all of the safest, most commonly used methods of abortion throughout pregnancy.

Yesterday’s ruling, consistent with last month’s United States Supreme Court ruling on a similar ban, rejects the argument that so-called “partial-birth abortion” bans target a single discrete procedure. The appeals court affirmed the ruling of the federal district court, which blocked enforcement of the ban.

Now doctors in New Jersey can continue to provide safe, quality medical care based on consultation with their patients, without regard to the meddling of politicians.

We hope this message will resonate with courts in the more than 30 states where similar bans have been enacted, many of which lack adequate exceptions for the life and health of the woman involved.

While we are encouraged by this decision, we remain concerned about other efforts to restrict women’s rights to safe, legal abortions. The Parental Notification Act, currently pending before the New Jersey Supreme Court, requires minors to notify a parent before having an abortion. If allowed to go into effect, this statute will only harm teens, not help them. We hope and trust that the state Supreme Court will uphold the rights of New Jersey teens and protect their health and constitutional right to choose.

The case was filed by Lapidus of the ACLU of New Jersey, Talcott Camp from the ACLU’s National Reproductive Freedom Project and Dara Klassel of Planned Parenthood Federation.