The US Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will appeal Nebraska US District Judge Richard Kopf's ruling which three weeks ago struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. President Bush signed the act last year banning procedures where the fetus is partially removed from the womb and its skull is punctured or crushed.

Kopf ruled the ban was unconstitutional because it interferes with the right to an abortion and fails to allow exceptions when a woman's health is in danger. His ruling followed similar decisions by federal judges in New York and San Francisco. Read the Partial-Birth Abortion Act here [PDF]. Read Kopf's full opinion here. Read a previous story on the decision on JURIST's Paper Chase. AP has more.