Gonzales v. Carhart

So the Supreme Court has upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

On one hand, it does sound like a pretty heinous procedure.

On the other hand, why is Congress more suited to make that decision that individual women and doctors? They didn't take a stand on the nature of life (like that it starts at conception or viability), but instead hinged their case on the nature of the procedure. That sounds like a decision about medical ethics, in which case I'm not sure how or why Congress should be involved.

Apparently the Supreme Court is. They decided that Congress can make a decision when the medical community hasn't reached a consensus (in this case it was the lack of consensus as to whether this procedure was always harmful to the woman). None of the lower courts found that to be true.

Moreover, (via Balkinization, whom I can't link to because I'm on the Mac) according to Justice Kennedy, the possibility that the woman may regret this procedure constituted a ground for outlawing it. Because really, Congress and the Supreme Court know best and need to save poor little women from themselves.

Rah!