Appeals Court Upholds Decision on Controversial Michigan Abortion Ban

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the sixth circuit upheld a federal court ruling Monday that overturned a controversial Michigan abortion ban. The Michigan law, called the Legal Birth Definition Act, was overturned in September 2005 in Federal District Court.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law did not contain a sufficient exception to the ban for situations in which the mother's life was endangered. The ACLU also claimed that the law aimed to ban nearly all abortions.

The Court of Appeals decision contained some strong words regarding the abortion ban. These statements were included in the courts ruling: "the Michigan legislature appears to have cast a wide net that would prohibit virtually all methods of abortions," according to the ACLU. The court also opined that the language of Michigan's law "pushed almost every boundary that the Supreme Court has imposed for these types of laws."

The ACLU, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Reproductive Rights all praised the decision.

The executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates Michigan pointed out the medical communities objections to the ban while lauding the court decision. According to the ACLU, she said: "Major medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, oppose this ban because it threatens women's health. We hope the Michigan legislature will finally get the message that they can no longer play politics with women's health care."

The Legal Birth Definition Act was Michigan's third attempt at an abortion ban. The two previous bans were similar to the one in question and were also overturned in Federal Court.

The first ban was passed in 1996 and was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on the premise that it was vague and over broad. The second ban did not have an exception to protect the mother's health, and was thus struck down in 2001 by a Federal judge.