I’m sorry to be so disagreeable, but I don’t think it’s a “victory” when the House passes unconstitutional legislation. A federal ban on partial birth abortion is simply beyond the scope of Congress’ enumerated powers. A federal ban on a medical procedure, like a federal murder statute, is not a regulation of “commerce among the several states.” Banning only on those procedures “in or affecting interstate commerce” is a farce. While Ramesh has made a reasonable argument that federal abortion legislation could be justified under the 14th Amendment, Congress has not made the sorts of findings that would be necessary to support such claim, and the 14th Amendment argument is weak when Congress only elects to target one method of abortion. There should be no constitutional barrier to state bans on partial-birth abortion — such as Ohio’s ban, which the Bush Administration is defending in federal court — but such legislation is simply not within the scope of federal power.