Stenberg v. Carhart — Kennedy, J., Dissenting

Summary

Justice Kennedy, joined by the Chief Justice, dissented from the judgment invalidating Nebraska's prohibition on partial-birth abortion. He would have concluded that the statute advanced legitimate state interests, imposed no undue burden, did not require a physician-controlled health exception, and applied only to the D&X procedure rather than the D&E procedure. Other separate writings disputed these conclusions: the Thomas, Scalia, and Rehnquist dissents would uphold the law, while the O'Connor, Ginsburg, and Stevens writings supported invalidation on health-exception and statutory-scope grounds.