Oklahoma judge allows restrictions on medication abortions News
Oklahoma judge allows restrictions on medication abortions

[JURIST] A judge for the Oklahoma County Court [official website] on Wednesday permitted [text, PDF] a state law [HB 2684, text] that restricts drug-induced abortions. The law, passed in 2012, limits medication abortions to the first seven weeks of a woman’s pregnancy. The Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice and Reproductive Services in Tulsa [advocacy websites] challenged [JURIST report] the law, claiming it placed unconstitutional restrictions on women. Those in favor of the law said that the drugs could harm pregnant women because their use in abortion procedures have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration [official website]. The judge refused to block the law after determining that it was not a ban, and that plaintiffs failed to show irreparable harm. The law is scheduled to take effect as planned on November 1.

Reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder] continue to be a hot-button legal issue throughout the US, with a number of states proposing laws to limit abortions. Earlier this week the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed [JURIST report] an existing state law limiting the use of drugs in abortion procedures. Last month Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed an appeal asking the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] to reverse a July ruling [JURIST report] that a 2012 state law requiring abortion clinic doctors to obtain hospital admitting privileges is unconstitutional. Also last month the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division ruled [JURIST report] that Alabama’s recently enacted [JURIST op-ed] requirement [HB 57] that all doctors who provide abortions must have staff privileges to perform designated procedures at a local hospital is unconstitutional.

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