Federal Abortion Ban Timeline

• 1995-96 — The U.S. Congress passed the first nationwide ban on abortion in 1995, which was vetoed by President Clinton in 1996. Although abortion foes were able to override the president's veto in the House, Senators sustained the president's action and prevented the act from becoming law.
  
  
• 1997 — Congress passed a slightly amended version of the law, which was again immediately vetoed by President Clinton.
  
  
• 1998 — The House once again overrode the president's veto and the Senate sustained the president's action.
  
  
• 1999-2000 — The Senate and House passed the 1997 version. With the end of the Congressional session, the bill died.
  
  
• June 2000 — The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska abortion ban, which had been modeled on the federal ban. The case, Stenberg v. Carhart, was argued by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
  
  
• 2001 — Neither the House nor the Senate introduced an abortion ban in the 2001 legislative session, though Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Pro-Life Caucus in Congress, said that a federal ban was a top priority for him.
  
  
• 2002 — A new abortion ban that fails to remedy the flaws in the law found unconstitutional in Carhart was passed in the House of Representatives.
  
  
• 2003 — Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the first federal law banning abortions as early as 12 to 15 weeks in pregnancy. Suits to block implementation immediately were filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Wilmer Cutler Pickering LLP on behalf of the National Abortion Federation and other doctors; the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Dr. LeRoy Carhart and other doctors; and Planned Parenthood Federation of America on behalf of its member affiliates. Three federal judges immediately blocked enforcement of the federal law in order to protect doctors' rights and women's health while the cases proceed in New York, California, and Nebraska.
  
  
• March 29, 2004 — Trials begin in New York, California, and Nebraska.
  
  
• June 1, 2004 — In Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California declares the federal abortion ban unconstitutional.
  
  
• August 2, 2004 — The U.S. attorney general files an appeal for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review the Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft decision.
  
  
• August 26, 2004 — In National Abortion Federation (NAF) v. Ashcroft, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York declares the federal abortion ban unconstitutional.
  
  
• September 8, 2004 — In Carhart v. Ashcroft, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska declares the federal abortion ban unconstitutional.
  
  
• September 27, 2004 — The U.S. attorney general files an appeal for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to review the NAF v. Ashcroft decision.
  
  
• November 30, 2004 — The U.S. attorney general files an appeal for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to review the Carhart v. Ashcroft decision.
  
  
• February 3, 2005 — Alberto Gonzales is sworn in as the 80th attorney general of the United States.
  
  
• April 14, 2005 — Oral arguments are heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Carhart v. Gonzales.
  
  
• July 8, 2005 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declares the federal abortion ban unconstitutional in Carhart v. Gonzales.
  
  
• September 26, 2005 — Bush administration attorneys file an appeal with the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
  
  
• October 6, 2005 — Oral arguments are heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in NAF v. Gonzales.
  
  
• October 20, 2005 — Oral arguments are heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Planned Parenthood v. Gonzales.
  
  
• November 18, 2005 — The Center for Reproductive Rights files a brief in opposition to the federal government's request for U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, striking down the Federal Abortion Ban.
  
  
• January 31, 2006 — A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rules 3-0 in Planned Parenthood v. Gonzales that the Federal Abortion Ban is unconstitutional because it fails to protect women's health, poses an undue burden on a woman's right to choose, and is unconstitutionally vague. On the same day, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also declares the ban unconstitutional in NAF v. Gonzales.
  
  
• February 21, 2006 — The Supreme Court grants review in Gonzales v. Carhart, the government's appeal of the Eighth Circuit's decision.
  
  
• May 1, 2006 — U.S. Attorney General asks the Supreme Court to grant review in Planned Parenthood v. Gonzales, but to hold the case until after it rules in Gonzales v. Carhart.
  
  
• May 12, 2006 — Planned Parenthood files a brief asking the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit's decision in Planned Parenthood v. Gonzales.
  
  
• May 22, 2006 — U.S. Attorney General Gonzales files his brief in the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart, arguing that the Court should uphold the ban.
  
  
• June 20, 2006 — The Supreme Court grants review in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, and will review the Ninth Circuit's decision.
  
  
• August 10, 2006 — Center for Reproductive Rights files brief in the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart, arguing that the ban is unconstitutional and the Eighth Circuit decision should be upheld.
  
  
• August 15, 2006 — Supreme Court sets oral argument date for Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood for November 8, 2006.
  
  
• November 8, 2006 — Oral arguments are heard in the U.S. Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Gonzales and Planned Parenthood v. Carhart.

• April 18, 2007 — The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the federal abortion ban in the cases Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and Gonzales v. Carhart.  The ban, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2003, criminalizes abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy that doctors say are safe and the best to protect women's health.