Supreme Court upholds abortion ban

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a partial-birth abortion ban today in a 5-4 split decision.

The ban would restrict partial-birth abortions that usually occur after 20 weeks gestation. Such partial-birth abortions, which account for a small number of abortions and are often done out of medical necessity, involve partially removing the fetus from the womb feet first and then removing the contents of the skull before the rest of the body is removed.

Pro-lifers have termed the type of abortions as infantcide while pro-choicers saw the proposed ban as a threat to Roe v. Wade.

The vote broke down as follows:

Justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito voted for the ban on partial birth abortions.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Stephen Breyer voted against the ban.

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