Top court to hear major abortion test cases

The first nationwide ban on a specific abortion procedure faces U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny next week in cases testing whether President George W. Bush's two new conservative appointees will restrict abortion rights.

Returning to one of the nation's most divisive, emotional and politically charged issues, the high court considers the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act the Republican-led U.S. Congress approved and Bush signed into law in 2003.

The arguments on Wednesday in two cases widely viewed as the most important of the court's 2006-07 term occur the day after voters go to the polls nationwide to decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress. South Dakota voters will cast ballots to decide whether a law banning almost all abortions should be repealed.

The Supreme Court will not be revisiting its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that women have a basic constitutional right to abortion, but will be reviewing whether a particular surgical abortion method can be outlawed.