Carhart v. Gonzalez U.S. Court of Appeals Case No. 04-3379 District of Nebraska 8th Circ Judge Kenneth Bye affirms Nebraska District Judge Richard Kopf's ruling that the federal partial birth abortion law federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-105, 117 Stat. 1201 (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1531).is unconstitutional. Kopf's ruling followed decisions overturning the law by federal judges in New York and San Francisco. Those decisions also have been appealed and are expected by many legal experts to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis agreed that the ban, while containing an exception to save the life of the mother, is unconstitutional because it makes no such exception for the health of the woman. "We agree with the Fourth Circuit that Stenberg establishes a per se constitutional rule in that the constitutional requirement of a health exception applies to all abortion statutes, without regard to precisely how the statute regulates abortion.Stenberg emphasized that a health exception is required where “substantial medical authority” supports the medical necessity of a procedure. Id. at 938. we conclude Stenberg requires the inclusion of a health exception whenever “substantial medical authority” supports the medical necessity of the prohibited procedure.