JUNEAU, Alaska — A state court judge in Alaska ruled Thursday that a law further defining what constitutes a medically necessary abortion for purposes of Medicaid funding is unconstitutional.
Superior Court Judge John Suddock ordered that the state be blocked from implementing the law, passed last year, and a similar regulation.
The Alaska Supreme Court has held that the state must pay for medically necessary abortions if it pays for other procedures deemed medically necessary.
The regulation and law sought to further define what constitutes a "medically necessary" abortion. Supporters of the measures have said the state should not be required to pay for elective abortions.
In his decision, Suddock said an unwanted pregnancy is a crisis for any woman and for an impoverished woman without recourse to an abortion, the crisis "may be extreme," noting that indigent women often face stressors such as homelessness, addiction or domestic violence. He wrote that the added stressor of an unwanted pregnancy with no recourse to an abortion "can create clinically significant mental distress such that a Medicaid abortion is medically necessary."
The lawsuit was brought by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, which praised the decision.
A state Department of Law spokesman said by email that the state was reviewing the decision and would evaluate its options.