Partial-birth law validated - A sharply divided federal appeals court upheld Virginia's ban on partial-birth abortion Wednesday, ruling that the statute does not unduly burden a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy by more conventional means. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 6-5 decision that the 2003 law also makes clear the type of conduct that is banned, making it unlikely that a doctor would be prosecuted for accidentally performing the procedure, which has the medical term "intact dilation and extraction." The decision reversed a 2-1 panel ruling striking down the law, which is similar to...