The following statement was issued by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, September 8, 2004.  For further information, call 202-626-8825, or visit the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/index.html   Statement by National Right to Life on the future of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act   WASHINGTON (Sept. 8, 2004) -- What follows is a comment from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C., regarding the future of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in light of three recent adverse lower court decisions, the most recent of which was handed down today by a federal district court in Nebraska.   NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson said:  "Four years ago, five justices of the Supreme Court said that Roe v. Wade allows abortion providers to perform partial-birth abortions whenever they see fit, even on healthy women with healthy babies, if the providers claim some 'health' benefit.  Future appointments to the Supreme Court will determine whether partial-birth abortion remains legal.  President Bush is determined to ban partial-birth abortion, but John Kerry has vowed that he will appoint to the Supreme Court only justices who share his views on abortion." Senator Kerry voted against passing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act every chance he got -- six times.   President Bush signed the bill on November 5, 2003, saying that in partial-birth abortion "a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth."   The Administration is appealing the adverse rulings to higher courts.   In a ruling issued in New York on August 26, U.S. District Judge Richard C. Casey said, "The Court finds that the testimony at trial and before Congress establishes that D&X [partial-birth abortion] is a gruesome, brutal, barbaric, and uncivilized medical procedure . . . [and finds] credible evidence that D&X abortions subject fetuses to severe pain."   On May 20, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (S. 2466, H.R. 4420).  This bill would require that abortionists provide women seeking any type of abortion past 20 weeks with certain information regarding the capacity of their unborn children to experience pain and regarding the availability of pain-reducing drugs.  For more information on the bill and on the issue of fetal pain, see http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/fetal_pain/index.html   The National Right to Life Committee maintains the most comprehensive collection of documentation on partial-birth abortion available anywhere on the Internet, at http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/index.html   For a good primer on what the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act does and does not do, and on other disputed issues pertaining to partial-birth abortion, see the memo "Partial-Birth Abortion: Misconceptions and Realities," here: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/PBAall110403.html   A collection of key documents pertinent to medical issues surrounding partial-birth abortion are posted here: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/keymedical.html