New abortion law to get test in Omaha

A federal judge based in Omaha was the first to put the nation’s new partial birth abortion ban in limbo. Earlier today, President Bush signed the ban on late term abortions, which opponents call “partial birth” abortions. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf a short while later handed down a temporary restraining order that blocks the abortion ban Bush approved. While the Nebraska judge’s order was based on a lawsuit filed by four doctors — one of whom is licensed in Iowa — there’s similiar legal action on behalf of doctors in other states. The law does not grant an exemption for partial birth abortions performed to save the life or health of the mother, and Judge Kopf cited that in his ruling. President Bush says his lawyers will “vigorously defend” the new law.