ACLJ: Department of Justice Presents Compelling Testimony in Defense of Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2004

Medical Expert Testifies Abortion Procedure Results in

"Prolonged and Intense Pain" to Fetus

The American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law and pro-life litigation, said today the Department of Justice is presenting a clear and compelling case in defense of a national ban on partial-birth abortion - a procedure that the government is proving is never medically necessary and according to one expert results in "prolonged and intense pain" to the fetus.

"The Department of Justice is presenting a clear and compelling case that this horrific procedure is never medically necessary," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, who is supporting the Department of Justice in its defense of the ban and attending the trial in New York City. "We already have heard the graphic truth from testimony of abortion providers concerning the dismemberment and decapitation of partially-born children. In presenting its case, the government is providing critical medical testimony concerning an undisputable fact that abortion providers want to ignore - the fact that the partially-born child experiences pain during this life-ending procedure. The testimony is both credible and convincing in a case that ultimately will determine whether this barbaric procedure is banned in the medical world."

In the New York trial, the government today put on the witness stand Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, a Harvard and Oxford trained physician who is a pediatrician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Services. In testimony today, Dr. Kanwaljeet told the court that it is his medical opinion, which is shared by many other experts, that the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain at 20 weeks of age. He also testified that the partial-birth abortion procedure, which involves the twisting, turning, and pulling of the fetus and its limbs outside the body before the skull is crushed, results in what Dr. Kanwaljeet called "prolonged and intense pain" to the human fetus.

This is the third week of testimony in three trials underway in New York, California, and Nebraska concerning the challenge to a national ban on partial-birth abortion signed into law by President Bush.

In the New York trial, where the ACLU and the National Abortion Federation is challenging the ban, abortion providers testified that the unborn child is often dismembered during the procedure and that the unborn child does not immediately die after limbs are pulled off and remain alive until the head is crushed.

The ACLJ, which is posting details of the testimony online at www.aclj.org, will be filing amicus briefs representing members of Congress who sponsored the partial-birth abortion ban legislation that was approved by Congress last fall with wide bi-partisan support.

Based in Washington, D.C., the American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and pro-life litigation.