Antiabortion law blocked by court

A federal appeals court rejected the state’s attempt to ban a procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion, ruling the law unconstitutional because it could also prohibit other abortion procedures.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the Michigan Legislature would have been “virtually guaranteed” a favorable result on appeal had it copied an Ohio law that the 6th Circuit already had upheld.

“It instead opted to use statutory language that pushed almost every boundary that the Supreme Court has imposed for these types of laws,” the court said.