Aug. 27, 2004 – A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's ban on the "intact dilation and extraction" abortion method signed into law last year, was unconstitutional. The decision from US District Judge Richard Casey of Manhattan reinforced a similar ruling earlier this month by a court in San Francisco. Abortion providers sued to overturn the law, charging it could be interpreted to apply as few as thirteen weeks into a pregnancy. Those advocating the ban on what they call "partial birth abortions" say it affects "living fetuses" that are partially outside a woman's body.
