The Supreme Court ruled for the first time that governments can ban a particular abortion procedure, in a decision Wednesday that emphasized the value of fetal life over a woman's right to end a pregnancy.The 5-4 decision, upholding Congress' ban on a method critics call "partial birth" abortion, made plain how a single change in a justice can change the law of the land.
The ruling, which marks the first time the court upheld a law that did not have an exception for a mother's health, immediately energized both sides of the abortion debate and was invoked by candidates looking ahead to the 2008 presidential campaign.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote for the majority, said government may use "its regulatory authority to show its profound respect for the life within the woman."
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