The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that a Wisconsin abortion law requiring providers to have admitting privileges is unconstitutional. The suit, brought by Planned Parenthood [advocacy site], argued that since abortion providers were required to have transfer agreements with hospitals, requiring doctors to have admitting privileges was unnecessary. The appeals court found that Wis. Stat. § 253.095(2) [text, PDF], which required providers to have admitting privileges to local hospitals within 30 miles, was an undue burden that did not increase the safety of women seeking the medical procedure. The court found that because prior legislation had reduced the number of available doctors who were legally permitted to perform abortions, that women would have to incur additional expenses and costs, such as receiving delayed medical care even though there is deadline for when abortions are available. Moreover, because other outpatient procedures do not require medical professionals to have hospital admitting privileges, the court held it did not put women in danger as the dissent opinion suggested:

There is no evidence that transfer agreements provide inferior protection to the health of women undergoing abortion compared to admitting privileges. When the transfer agreements and the availability of emergency-room care and the rarity of complications of abortion that require hospitalization are compared to the impact this statute would have on access to abortion in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Attorney general used social media [Twitter account] to express its belief that the Supreme Court will have to decide on the constitutionality of the bill.

Abortion and reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder] have been at the forefront of legal debate over the past several months in the US. Earlier this month the US Supreme Court agreed to review a similar Texas law [JURIST report] that requires doctors to have admitting privileges but also requires clinics to have the same facilities as a surgical center. It is estimated that 32 clinics would close [WP report] if the legislation is fully implemented, leaving Texas with 10 abortion clinics. Last month the US House of Representatives approved the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 [JURIST report], a bill that would cut all federal funding to women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood. Also in October the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee lifted [JURIST report] a temporary restraining order that limited the state in enforcing new abortion laws regarding licensing standards for clinics. In July Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker enacted the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act [JURIST report], limiting the ability of a woman to seek an abortion more than 20 weeks into her pregnancy.