Today the Court made a decision on the so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban holding the federal ban constitutional despite the absence of an exception for the health of the mother. This decision is the first decision made regarding abortion in six years, detours from the precedent laid out in Carhart, and demonstrates how the new make-up of the Court can affect reproductive healthcare in this country.

Below I pasted a link to an article from the Associated Press. For more up-to-date information you can access www.saveroe.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/18/national/w070844D25.DTL&type=politics

Excerpts from the article:

The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.

The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
[snip]

The decision pitted the court's conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush's two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.

It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how — not whether — to perform an abortion.
[snip]

Said Eve Gartner of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America: "This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women's health and safety. ... This ruling tells women that politicians, not doctors, will make their health care decisions for them."