Knights of Columbus News Release

Supreme Court decision on Partial Birth Abortion "a major milestone" 

New Haven, CT- April 18, 2007- "Today's Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Carhart is a major milestone in the battle to end the destruction of innocent human life in America ," Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said today.  "Until today, the abortion license in the United States has been virtually unlimited.  Finally, after nearly a decade of court battles, the way has been cleared to implement the bipartisan judgment of Congress that partial birth abortion is brutal and inhumane, and must be prohibited."

"In upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act," Anderson said, "the court reasserts an important and usually forgotten part of its 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.  'A central premise' of that case, the court said today, is 'that the government has a legitimate, substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.'  In highlighting that position, I believe the court has laid the groundwork for a more searching reexamination of the crumbling foundation on which Roe v. Wade was built."

"We also strongly agree with Justice Thomas, who wrote a short, separate concurring opinion reiterating his view 'that the Court's abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, has no basis in the Constitution.'  He is absolutely right, and we will not rest until the day on which the right to life is recognized as the most fundamental right of all," Anderson concluded.

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic lay organization, with more than 1.7 million members worldwide.  Knights of Columbus are involved in a wide variety of pro-life activities at the local, state, national and international levels, including support for adoption programs and for homes that care for women in crisis pregnancies who have elected to have their children.  The Order also provides major financial support for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activites at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as for Canada 's Catholic Organization for Life and Family.