Congress plays doctor.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Most Americans are ambivalent on the issue of abortion, unwilling to either allow or prohibit the procedure under all circumstances. This is a sensible position, reflecting an understanding that circumstances vary widely and are best evaluated by women and their doctors. A bill approved by Congress last week, and which President Bush said on Tuesday that he would sign, is flawed because of its failure to respect medical judgments.

The bill bans a procedure called partial birth abortion, which is a political term, not a medical one. The procedure is undeniably gruesome, fortunately rare, and performed late in pregnancy. Opponents compare it to infanticide, implying that in every case women and their doctors have other options but reject them in favor of killing a potentially viable fetus. But in some cases the procedure is performed to protect the life of the mother, which makes it a desperate response to a medical emergency. The bill makes no provision for such cases.

The Nebraska Legislature approved a partial birth abortion ban three years ago. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law on grounds that it included no exception for procedures to protect maternal health. Congress attempted to sidestep that pitfall by including in its bill a finding of fact stating that such abortions are never necessary for reasons of health.

With this provision Congress stopped making political decisions and began making blanket medical evaluations. The court, which is narrowly divided on the question of abortion, should roundly reject the notion that Congress can call medical facts into being.

Seventeen Democratic senators joined 47 Republicans in supporting the partial-birth abortion ban, including some who until now have consistently supported women's right to choose an abortion. The bill attracted bipartisan support despite the fact that a statement expressing general support for the principles of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade abortion-rights decision had been stripped from the legislation. Abortion opponents can take this as a sign that in the political sphere, abortion rights are no longer considered absolute.

Yet even President Bush, in promising to sign the partial birth abortion bill, noted that neither Congress nor the public is prepared to outlaw abortion outright. Most Americans, and most lawmakers, can readily imagine circumstances under which the government should not interfere with a woman's decision to end a pregnancy. Maternal health is one such circumstance, and a law that fails to acknowledge it should not stand.