Court rejects state ban on partial-birth abortion

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A federal appeals court Monday rejected Michigan's attempt to ban a procedure opponents call partial-birth abortion, ruling the law unconstitutional because it could also prohibit other abortion procedures.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal said the Michigan Legislature would have been "virtually guaranteed" a favorable result on appeal had it copied an Ohio law that the 6th Circuit already has upheld.