A recent Supreme Court ruling which upheld a Congressional ban on some abortions after the first 12 weeks (the first trimester) of pregnancy, has spurred debate, applause and outrage across the country. But to activists and advocates alike, the controversial decision may be a sign of things to come.

In a five-to-four vote on April 18, the Court found the 2003 law which prohibits a procedure termed ‘partial birth’ abortion, and which does not have a health exception clause, compatible with Roe v. Wade.

‘This consideration has been a common touchstone in the Court’s jurisprudence with regard to abortion until now,’ said Professor Wendy Martinek, who teaches Civil Rights and Liberties (PLSC 333) at Binghamton University. ‘The ruling is quite important in terms of what it may mean for constitutional protections for a woman’s right to choose an abortion.’

Known medically as dilation and extraction (D&X), the banned method allowed doctors to partially remove the fetus from the uterus and dissect the head, making the full extraction easier.

The procedure is commonly used in second trimester abortion, but rarely overall. More than 85 percent of abortions are done in the first eight weeks of pregnancy.

This is also the first time the Supreme Court upheld a ban on a specific abortion procedure.

Many students and leaders of religious and political student groups on campus have either not heard about the decision, or believe it will not have a great effect on BU students.

Leah Orden, secretary of the Women’s Center, said abortion has never been discussed during the organization’s weekly meetings. She believes the ban will not affect students.

‘I think college students would have an abortion before [the second trimester],’ she said. ‘There are also condoms, birth control pills and the morning-after pill.’

Pro-life proponents, who call D&X inhumane, hailed the Court’s decision, while reproductive health and women’s rights groups were distressed by the ruling.

‘It is a major setback for women’s health,’ said Ingrid Husisian, spokeswoman for the Binghamton chapter of Planned Parenthood. ‘It opens the gate for more limitations on abortion.’

President George W. Bush said he approved the decision, saying it ‘affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America.’

The decision marks a shift in the court’s judgment on abortion.

Martinek said that as recently as 2000 ‘ when the Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska ban on ‘partial birth’ abortion ‘ the justices have voted against restricting abortion.

Since then, the membership of the court changed. Two conservative justices have been appointed to the bench by Bush, Martinek said, and therefore the ruling is not surprising.

In an opposing opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her anger, calling the decision of the majority an ‘effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court.’

While abortions during the second trimester remain legal, Husisian said the court outlawed a safer way of performing the procedure.

The method that is still legal has doctors dismembering the fetus in the uterus.

Peg Johnson, director of Southern Tier Women’s Service, a women’s clinic in Vestal, N.Y., which offers abortions, said the D&X aims at preserving women’s health and fertility.

‘The big issue is that the legislature is deciding what’s medically appropriate,’ Johnson said. ‘It’s that intrusion into medicine that people are worried about.’

Husisian said that the D&X abortions are mostly performed when the mother’s health is at risk or when something goes wrong with the pregnancy.

‘[The ban has] no health exception ‘ that’s what’s so astounding,’ she added.

While college students are usually proactive, getting abortions early in the pregnancy, Husisian said the ban could affect many teenagers.

‘Young people and teens, who are afraid to come forth earlier ‘ maybe it’s incest or rape ‘ wait a long time before getting an abortion,’ she added.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, adolescents comprise 25 percent of all abortions performed after the first trimester.

Activists on both sides predict that states will now pass more restrictions on abortion, and perhaps even challenge Roe v. Wade.