[JURIST] Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Reproductive Rights [advocacy websitew] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] on Thursday in federal court to block part of a new Arizona law that requires doctors to tell patients that it may be possible to reverse a drug-induced abortion. This advice is regarded by most medical experts as wrong and misleading. The lawsuit argues that requiring doctors to make such statements with severe consequences if they do not comply is a violation of their First Amendment rights. “This reckless law forces doctors to lie to their patients, and it puts women’s health at risk,”said [Guardian report] Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “This law should never have passed, and we’re asking the court to stop it from going into effect.” The main purpose of the law is to stop women from using the federal marketplace to purchase a health care plan that covers abortions. The law is scheduled to take effect July 3.

Reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder] in Arizona have been a divisive issue for the state recently. In March Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed [JURIST report] the bill requiring doctor disclosure of a possible reversal into law. “The American people overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and it’s no different in Arizona, where we have long-standing policy against subsidizing them with public dollars,” said Ducey in a press release. “This legislation provides clarity to state law.” In April 2014 the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit temporarily blocked [JURIST report] Arizona from enforcing HB 2306, which would prohibit women from having a medication abortion after seven weeks of pregnancy. The proposed law is considered to be one of the strictest in the country. In December the US Supreme Court declined to review [JURIST report] the injunction preventing the implementation of Arizona’s HB 2306.