U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker heard about an hour’s worth of arguments Friday morning on Planned Parenthood’s request for a restraining order that would temporarily halt the enforcement of a law that took effect last week, effectively outlawing pill-induced abortions in Arkansas.
Baker took the request under advisement, saying she wasn’t certain how she is supposed to proceed in response to an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last summer that dissolved a previous injunction she issued. That injunction remained in place while the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which said May 29 that it wouldn’t review the case.
Baker asked attorneys for Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates one clinic each in Little Rock and Fayetteville, to submit written briefs by noon Wednesday on how they believe she should proceed, such as whether she should make additional findings before deciding the injunction request. She told attorneys that if she still has questions after reviewing the briefs, she will hold a telephone conference with them in open court to address those questions before ruling on the injunction request.
The law in question requires abortion providers in Arkansas to have a signed contract with another physician who will be responsible for any complications that may occur after a woman completes the two-step medication abortion process at home. The second physician must be licensed in obstetrics and gynecology and have admitting privileges in a hospital, and the second doctor’s name and phone number must be given to the woman.
Planned Parenthood, which has provided only medication abortions, says complications are rare and its current procedures are adequate to address them. The group say it cannot find anyone willing to be a contract physician because of the stigma of associating with an abortion provider. Attorneys for the state say Planned Parenthood has only made a half-hearted effort to find a cooperating physician, and that the law was needed to protect women’s health.
Surgical abortions are still available at the Little Rock Family Planning clinic in Little Rock. Planned Parenthood contends the time and costs involved in making a round-trip drive to Little Rock for a surgical abortion and the logistics of obtaining an appointment at a busy clinic create unconstitutional obstacles to a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Medication abortions are available only through the ninth week of pregnancy.
— Linda Satter
9:15 a.m. UPDATE
A federal judge is hearing arguments on a request to block an Arkansas law that critics say effectively bans abortion pills, a little over a week after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to enforce the restriction.
The law says doctors who provide abortion pills must hold a contract with a physician with admitting privileges at a hospital who agrees to treat any complications.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker plans to hear arguments Friday morning on Planned Parenthood's request to block the law.
Justices last week rejected a Planned Parenthood appeal to reinstate Baker's earlier order blocking the law. Planned Parenthood says the law effectively ends medication abortions in Arkansas.
— The Associated Press