Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Gonzales v. Carhart
What's at Stake
Challenge to a federal abortion ban, adopted in 2003, that lacks an exception to preserve a woman's health and is so broadly written that it would prohibit abortions performed as early as 13 weeks into the pregnancy. DECIDED
Summary
Three years after the United States Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska abortion ban on the grounds that it lacked a health exception and that its broad language prohibited many common abortion methods, Congress passed a nearly identical ban. Every federal court to review the federal ban has declared it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court reviewed two of the three legal challenges to the ban. The ACLU filed amicus briefs in each case asking the Court to hold the ban unconstitutional because it endangers women's health and to strike it down in its entirety.
ACLU Legal Director Steve Shapiro talks about the Gonzales case at the 2006 Membership Conference
Legal Documents
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10/13/2006
ACLU Amicus Brief in Gonzales v. Carhart
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09/27/2006
ACLU Amicus Brief in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Date Filed: 09/27/2006
Download DocumentPress Releases
Reproductive Rights Groups Hail Decision Striking Down Michigan’s Third Attempt at a Dangerous and Extreme Ban on Abortion
ACLU and National Abortion Federation Criticize Decision by U.S. Supreme Court Upholding Federal Abortion Ban
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Argument in Federal Abortion Ban Challenges
ACLU, NYCLU, and National Abortion Federation Call on U.S. Supreme Court to Hold Women's Health Paramount In Federal Abortion Ban Challenge
Abortion And Education Highlight New Supreme Court Docket; National Security Cases Wait In The Wings
ACLU and National Abortion Federation Call on U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Women's Health as Court Agrees to Hear Argument in Challenge to the Federal Abortion Ban