Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced Friday the Commonwealth of Virginia will ask the full Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision of a divided panel of the court that struck down Virginia’s ban on partial-birth abortion.

Speaking about the decision, McDonnell notes, “It is my belief that Virginia’s partial-birth abortion ban, passed overwhelmingly by the people's elected representatives in the General Assembly, is constitutional. Given the significance of the issues at stake, and the fact that the United States Supreme Court recently upheld a very similar federal ban on the procedure, the full court should review the ruling by the divided three-judge panel.”

On May 20, a three-judge panel of the Court ruled 2-1 against the Commonwealth’s partial-birth abortion ban, passed by the General Assembly in 2003. Following this decision, the Commonwealth had two options in proceeding: petition for a rehearing by the full Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The petition for rehearing by the full Fourth Circuit will be filed on June 2. The Court is expected to rule in approximately a month or two on whether the full court will review the case on the merits. If it does, it will schedule oral arguments, most likely in the fall. The case is titled Richmond Medical Center v. Herring.