Judge Voids Strict Guam Abortion Law

A federal judge Thursday overturned the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, and abortion rights supporters said an appeal of that ruling would threaten the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

U.S. District Judge Alex Munson declared that Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing the right to an abortion, “applied with equal force and effect to Guam.”

Government attorneys and other defendants in the case argued that the law did not apply to Guam because of the island’s status as an unincorporated territory.

The law, signed by Gov. Joseph Ada on March 19, banned abortions except when the woman’s life is in danger. It did not permit abortions in the case of rape or incest and made it a crime for someone to advise a woman about an abortion.

Munson on March 23 blocked enforcement of the law while he weighed a challenge from abortion rights forces.

“The threat we live with is that the Supreme Court has indicated a willingness to overturn Roe vs. Wade,” Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League, said in a phone interview from Washington.

“If the governor appeals (Munson’s ruling), he will endanger the rights of all women by providing the vehicle for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Our goal is to keep these cases out of the courts,” Michelman said.

The governor said he did not know whether he would appeal.

Abortion opponents said that they were not surprised by the judge’s decision and that the next step probably will be an appeal that would send the case to the Supreme Court.

“We figured that it wouldn’t be an easy climb,” said Roland Rivera, vice president of Guamanians United for Life. “There is just the next higher level to pursue.”

“Guam’s strong law . . . could not be upheld without overturning Roe vs. Wade,” said state Rep. Woody Jenkins, lead author of an anti-abortion bill approved by the Louisiana Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Buddy Roemer.

“Although it’s not surprising that a federal district judge would follow the Roe decision and rule against the Guam law, it must be remembered that this is just the first stage in the process,” Jenkins said.

Munson’s ruling said the law was unconstitutional because it violated the free speech and due process clauses of the Constitution.

“The ruling tells states they don’t have the power to overturn Roe vs. Wade,” Simon Heller, an attorney with the Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a telephone interview from New York.