The title pretty much sums it up. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the many cases in federal court banning abortion (the "partial birth abortion ban"). Supporters of the ban say it outlaws a gruesome procedure, and leaves an exception for the woman's life. Opponents claim that the law does not have an exception for the woman's health. The bill has been thrown out by numerous federal courts; it now comes to the Supreme Court on appeal from the administration.
The bill specifically states that the procedure (D&X) will never be useful for the health of the woman, and that it is a disfavored procedure; the legislation goes on to argue that Congress is not bound by the Constitutional limits the Supreme Court has decided ("It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each...So if a law be in opposition to the constitution; if both the law and the constitution apply to a particular case, so that the court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the constitution; or conformably to the constitution, disregarding the law; the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty.")