The full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said it will review the constitutionality of a Virginia law prohibiting so-called "partial-birth" abortion, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R) asked the full court to rehear the case after a three-judge panel had declared the law unconstitutional (Green, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/29).
In May, the three-judge panel of the court issued a 2-1 decision declaring the law unconstitutional. The panel said Virginia's law is more restrictive than the federal abortion ban (PL 108-105) (Emerling, Washington Times, 7/29). Both laws prohibit physicians from using a procedure -- known as intact dilation and extraction, or intact D&E -- and both measures allow physicians to perform a standard dilation and evacuation procedure.
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