Ohio Backed on Abortion Ban

In an unusual move, the Bush administration backed Ohio’s effort to revive its law that forbids a controversial late-term abortion procedure.

In arguments filed this week, the Justice Department urged the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case as soon as possible. No date has been set.

“The question is one of great interest as a matter of public policy and of constitutional law,” Justice Department attorneys argued, “and it turns on several significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting the states’ authority to regulate abortions.”

A federal judge ruled that the state’s ban on dilation-and-extraction procedure--called partial-birth abortion by opponents--was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. The state is appealing.

The Justice Department rarely files arguments in circuit court cases when it isn’t directly involved or invited to weigh in.

The move came a week after the Bush administration said it would make embryos and developing fetuses eligible for a government health care program, saying they qualify from the moment of conception.

“This latest move by the administration should alarm the majority of Americans who believe that personal reproductive health care decisions should remain between women and their doctors,” said Vicki Saporta, executive director of the National Abortion Federation.

Alphonse Gerhardstein--lawyer for abortion provider Dr. Martin Haskell, who filed the lawsuit--said the Justice Department action wouldn’t strengthen the case for the ban.

Last September, U.S. District Judge Walter Rice ruled the state ban unconstitutional because it prohibits the dilation-and-extraction procedure even when it is safer for a patient.