WASHINGTON — While Wednesday's Supreme Court decision striking down Nebraska's ban on "partial-birth" abortion appears to be a victory for abortion-rights supporters, in the end it may be a bigger boon for anti-abortion advocates.
The decision is certain to give energy to activists on both sides of the abortion debate, with supporters and opponents alike setting their sights on this fall's presidential election.
But the ruling, while disappointing for anti-abortion activists, who have worked since the early 1990s to ban partial-birth abortions, seems likely to give their side more momentum.
"This decision will activate the pro-life side of this debate, just because the court's vote was so close," said Darrell West, a professor of political science at Brown University. The vote was 5 to 4.
Indeed, within hours anti-abortion activists were saying that their loss in the high court could translate into a gain at the polls. Anti-abortion activists believe that the court's action will help them sway centrist voters who, although they may support abortion rights generally, say that they are comfortable with banning this type of abortion.
A vote for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is more likely to produce a Supreme Court that would ban abortion procedures, they will tell voters.
"The take-home message in most people's head is that this procedure is gross, it's awful and why can't we get rid of it," said Helen Alvare of the Pro-Life Committee of the National Conference for Catholic Bishops. "And abortion advocates are saying it's not fair to women to ban it . . . [and that] makes them look extreme. This is going to prove to be an Achilles' heel for abortion advocates," she predicted.
Abortion-rights supporters, meanwhile, found no margin of comfort in the narrow court decision. They will continue to focus on encouraging voters to send Vice President Al Gore to the White House because they believe he would appoint justices who would safeguard abortion rights. Rather than focusing on the specifics of "partial-birth" abortions, the abortion-rights advocates say that they will try to get voters to think in terms of preserving the overall right to abortion.
"Right now we have to turn our attention to the November election," said Elizabeth Cavendish, legal director for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.
