Abortion Law

Mexico City Mayor Rosario Robles signed an initiative that would decriminalize abortion when the life of the mother is threatened or when the fetus has been diagnosed with severe birth defects. The move came days after legislators in the central state of Guanajuato voted to prohibit abortion in cases of rape, heightening fears about the conservative agenda of the newly powerful National Action Party.

A federal appeals court judge stopped Pennsylvania's tough abortion law from taking effect until Dec. 12 while abortion rights groups wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the law. The one-sentence order Tuesday by Judge Walter Stapleton of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals responded to a Planned Parenthood request for a stay of the appeals court's Oct. 21 ruling, which upheld most parts of the law.

Girls under 18 will need a parent's permission before they can have an abortion under a bill signed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. The old law required notification of at least one parent, but not permission. The new Utah law allows minor girls to seek an exception in Juvenile Court to the parental consent rule -- but not the notification requirement -- in cases of abuse, incest or estrangement from their parents, or when a doctor determines the life or health of the girl is at risk.

Gov. Joseph Ada plans to appeal a federal court ruling that overturned this U.S. territory's restrictive abortion law. The law banned all abortions except those performed to save the life of the mother. It was struck down on Aug. 23. "I have examined my heart closely and I believe in a fundamental way that, when a child is conceived, it is, in fact, a human being," Ada said Thursday. "Since I believe this, then it must follow that a human being has a right to live.

The Legislature opens a special session today to modify a new law that could mean homicide charges against people who participate in abortions. During its regular session, which ended Feb. 25, the Legislature passed the most stringent state abortion restrictions in the nation. The special session opens under the shadow of a tourism boycott. Abortion rights advocates are urging would-be visitors to Utah to protest by staying away. A law passed on Jan.

A dozen regulations in one of the nation's toughest abortion laws were struck down by a federal judge who said the rules imposed an unconstitutional burden on people seeking and providing abortions. U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. in Jackson, Miss., issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Mississippi from enforcing the new rules, generally aimed at abortion doctors and clinics.

A federal appeals court Monday upheld most provisions of Pennsylvania's strict abortion law, which mandates parental consent for minors and requires doctors to discuss potential dangers and alternatives. The three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals cited a U.S. Supreme Court opinion by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The Parliament merged the old East German and West German abortion laws into one Thursday, ending five years of legislative disagreement with a convoluted new law that makes abortion a crime but allows women to undergo the procedure without being punished.

Germany's highest court blocked a liberal abortion law that was due to have come into force today. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe approved a request for a preliminary injunction stopping the law from taking effect. The request came from 241 conservative members of Parliament, including Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and from the mainly Roman Catholic state of Bavaria. The court will make a final ruling in the fall on the law.

A federal judge in Philadelphia lifted an injunction that had prevented Pennsylvania's restrictive abortion law from taking effect. A state spokesman said parts of the five-year-old law could take effect immediately. U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Huyett III lifted a ban a week after U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter rejected an appeal by abortion providers. The law requires women to receive counseling about alternatives to abortion and then wait 24 hours before undergoing the