Military abortion insurance ruling [9th Circuit] News
Military abortion insurance ruling [9th Circuit]

Doe v. US, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, August 18, 2005 [ruling that congressional legislation that permits medical insurance for US military personnel to pay only for abortions needed to save the life of the mother was constitutional]. Excerpt:

We conclude our analysis with a few words of sympathy. Anencephaly is a horrible defect that leaves families like Doe's devastated, faced with difficult decisions and even more difficult psychological experiences. We depart from our analysis only to observe that while recognizing that the foregoing discussion may seem at times callous and unfeeling, we express our deepest sympathy for the families who must face this difficult ordeal. It is the nature of the legal analysis, the commands of stare decisis, and the deference we must afford congressional judgment that require the result we reach here today. We remain confident, however, that the law commands it.

Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.