State Abortion Law Immediately Challenged

[suffragette]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/28/26793.htm

(CN) - A clinic and an obstetrician sued Oklahoma on Tuesday, the day it enacted a harsh and restrictive law that would subject a doctor to felony charges if the doctor "knowingly or recklessly performs or attempts to perform an abortion." H.B. 2780 also requires doctors to show a woman an ultrasound photo of her embryo or fetus while simultaneously describing its particular features. And it allows a woman's brother to sue her doctor, even if his sister requested the abortion.
H.B. 2780 was enacted on April 27 over Gov. Brad Henry's veto. It takes effect immediately.
Nova Health Systems dba Reproductive Services and Dr. Larry Burns say it is unconstitutionally vague, violates women's and doctor's constitutional speech rights, is an impermissible special law, and "impermissibly burdens the fundamental rights of plaintiffs' patients to terminate a pregnancy and avoid unwanted speech in a private setting."
"In addition, the Act exposes abortion providers to an array of intimidating civil and administrative penalties to which no other health care providers in the state are exposed."
"The Act prohibits a woman from obtaining an abortion unless, at least an hour before the procedure, 'the physician who is to perform the abortion or induce the abortion, or the certified technician working in conjunction with the physician' (1) 'performs an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman, using either a vaginal transducer or an abdominal transducer, whichever would display the embryo or fetus more clearly;' (2) 'provides a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting;' (3) 'provides a medical description of the ultrasound images, which shall include the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, the presence of cardiac activity, if present and viewable, and the presence of external members and internal organs, if present and viewable.'"
Lawmakers concede that the provisions of the law may be obnoxious.




I bolded that last sentence since it's an apt descriptor. Obnoxious, indeed.

A law codifying state sanctioned rape through forcing the insertion of a vaginal transducer into a person not wanting this procedure. Truly horrific.

Terrible that this was passed at all. Good to hear it's being challenged quickly by doctors who actually care about their patients' rights.