In response to this:

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court’s conservative majority handed anti-abortion forces a major victory Wednesday in a decision that bans a controversial abortion procedure and set the stage for further restrictions.

For the first time since the court established a woman’s right to an abortion in 1973, the justices upheld a nationwide ban on a specific abortion method, labeled partial-birth abortion by its opponents.

The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

Candidates had the following to say concerning the decision:

Giuliani:

“The Supreme Court reached the correct conclusion in upholding the congressional ban on partial birth abortion,” Giuliani said in a statement on the 5–4 decision. “I agree with it.”

McCain:

“I’m very happy about the decision given my position on abortion. Partial birth is one of the most odious aspects of abortion,” Arizona Sen. John McCain said while campaigning in South Carolina.

Romney:

“Today, our nation’s highest court reaffirmed the value of life in America by upholding a ban on a practice that offends basic human decency,” Romney said in a statement. “This decision represents a step forward in protecting the weakest and most innocent among us.”

Obama:

“I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient.”

Edwards:

“I could not disagree more strongly with today’s Supreme Court decision. The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and sweeping prohibition that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford to lose the 2008 election. Too much is at stake – starting with, as the Court made all too clear today, a woman’s right to choose.”

Hillary has not released a statement however since she voted against the ban originally, one can safely assume she’d be rather upset with this ruling and would agree w/ Obama and Edwards.

Update:

Hillary’s statement:

“This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman’s right to choose and recognized the importance of women’s health. Today’s decision blatantly defies the Court’s recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother. As the Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade in 1973, this issue is complex and highly personal; the rights and lives of women must be taken into account. It is precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights that I warned against when I opposed the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.”

Update from The Angry American:My own opinion: I beleive in life, but of course I also believe a woman should have a choice in the say over her own body however within reason where an active male partner is involved, then I believe it should be a group decision….like I said, within reason. I don’t think a woman should be able to have an abortion if the partner disagrees. For a woman to make that decision on her own I believe is selfish(except in the case of rape or a wham bam thank you ma’am type of situation). If you’re grown enough to get yourself in that situation then you should be grown enough to accept the consequences. We all know what the results of sex are, it’s not like men or women go into it not knowing what they are doing and the chance they are taking.