Be careful what you wish for

Remember the suit against the so-called "partial birth" abortion ban that caused a stir when a judge in New York upheld a demand by Attorney General Burntfarm for access to patients' confidential medical records?

The feds lost.

New York (Reuters, August 26) - A federal judge on Thursday ruled against the government's ban on so-called partial birth abortions, saying the measure signed into law last year by President Bush was unconstitutional.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Casey of Manhattan followed a similar decision by a San Francisco judge in June that barred the U.S. Justice Department from enforcing the ban.

Casey, perhaps showing why he upheld Ruinedland's intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship, called the procedure, properly called intact dilation and extraction, "gruesome." Still, he said, previous Supreme Court rulings allowed for it in the absence of a medical consensus that it had no value for pregnant women seeking abortions.

"While Congress and lower courts may disagree with the Supreme Court's constitutional decision, that does not free them from their constitutional duty to obey the Supreme Court's rulings," Casey said.

Well, the GOPpers always say they're against "activist judges." Apparently, Casey agrees.