The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Wednesday denied Planned Parenthood's request that the entire court hear arguments that earlier led a three-judge panel to overturn an order blocking a law aimed at abortion clinics.
The panel's July 28 ruling overturned U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker's 2016 preliminary injunction blocking the Abortion Inducing Drugs Safety Act, also known as Act 577 of 2015, from going into effect.
The law placed new restrictions on medication-induced abortions by requiring providers of such abortions to contract with a physician with admitting privileges at a designated hospital, to be available in case of emergencies.
Planned Parenthood, which operates one clinic each in Little Rock and Fayetteville, and provides only medication-induced abortions, challenged the law.
The provider of various family-planning services said the law would reduce access to abortion in Arkansas by essentially preventing it from providing abortions, in the process forcing some women to drive unreasonably long distances to obtain surgical abortions, which are available only at Little Rock Family Planning Services.
The provider's attorneys said that's because physicians who perform medication-induced abortions are unlikely to find a doctor with hospital admitting privileges to agree to contract with them, because of the stigma and public backlash over abortions.
The provider also complained that the restrictions endanger women's health by forcing them to have surgical abortions when medication-induced abortions are generally safer.
The state's appeal of Baker's injunction led to the panel decision by Circuit Judge Raymond Gruender of St. Louis, Chief Judge William Jay Riley of Omaha, Neb., and Senior U.S. District Judge James Gritzner of Des Moines, sitting by designation.
The judges directed Baker to make a more complete guess at the number of women burdened by the law before deciding again whether the law can take effect.
The request for a rehearing by the full court, which has 14 members, has left the case in the jurisdiction of the 8th Circuit. However, the 8th Circuit is now expected to issue a mandate allowing Act 577 to take effect. In the meantime, Planned Parenthood clinics in the state have continued to offer abortion services.
Metro on 09/28/2017