Gonzales v. Carhart Fact Sheet

• There is no such thing as "partial birth abortion". This term was invented by the forced pregnancy movement. The procedure is called an "intact dilation and evacuation (intact D&E)" or "dilation and extraction (D&X)".
  
• Gonzales v. Carhart is the first time since a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy was fully reconised in Roe v. Wade that the Supreme Court has upheld an abortion ban that did not contain a health exception.
• The all-male majority accepted Congressional "findings of fact" that were patently false. Legislative findings of fact are never given this sort of conclusive weight in constitutional cases.
• Justice Kennedy's opinion is based in part on stereotypical notions about the role of women, even though the Court itself has made clear that stereotypes and generalisations are not an appropriate basis for decisionmaking (U.S. v. Virginia).
  
• Kennedy's opinion is based in part on the fact that he finds the D&X procedure disgusting.
• The rationale of the Gonzales majority is so broad that it could be used as a basis for banning any abortion procedure.
• The federal D&X ban imposes up to two years and prison and substantial fines on any physician who performs a D&X procedure unless the physician can prove that the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life.