Wisconsin enacts stiffest abortion ban in nation.

Abortion, when debated on the floor of the legislature, is an emotional and politically explosive issue. And the controversy surrounding partial-birth abortions is even more incendiary.

Wisconsin enacted a law this spring that bans partial-birth abortions and requires life imprisonment of any physician who breaks the law - the stiffest penalty in the country. The sponsor, Representative Robert Goetsch, believes "the law will help restore dignity to the way we view human life and will be worth the effort if it saves even one child from the heinous death it would suffer during a partial-birth abortion."

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and a group of physicians immediately challenged the law, and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals let it stand. This is the first time that a court has refused to grant permanent or preliminary relief from a partial-birth abortion ban, according to Julie Kay of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

Providers of abortion services in Wisconsin contend that the law may very well ban all abortion procedures because it is ambiguous. "The effects of this law are now apparent in Wisconsin. Providers are unclear about the law and are understandably hesitant because they fear life imprisonment. Many providers have decided that they will continue to provide limited abortion services in response to local district attorney statements that they would not prosecute for some abortions," says Kay.

The law defines "partial-birth abortion" as "an abortion in which a person partially vaginally delivers a living child, causes the death of the partially delivered child with the intent to kill the child, and then completes the delivery of the child." A...