. . . for now.
A judge has temporarily blocked the new state abortion law that would require costly and medically unnecessary renovations.
In his order, Smith warned both sides from reading too much into his ruling, saying “the state has a legitimate interest in regulating facilities that perform surgery, even if the facility in question performs surgical abortions.
“The court also believes the state may differentiate between facilities that do not primarily perform surgery based on the types of surgery they provide,” he wrote.
But he said it was confusing how the state would apply the law to the Kansas City clinic, which performs only medication-induced abortions, not surgical ones.
Defense attorneys said that the facility should be outfitted for surgery in case something goes wrong with the medication. But Smith was unconvinced.
“Of all the establishments that dispense medication (e.g. doctor’s offices, pharmacies), why is it only those that dispense medication for the purpose of inducing an abortion that must be prepared to perform surgery?” Smith asked.
He said the law should probably apply to the Columbia clinic and noted that Planned Parenthood and the department were willing to cooperate. But he said there was still disagreement over what level of regulations the clinic would have to follow, and more discussion was needed on that point.
Planned Parenthood has said that if the law stands, the renovations would cost in excess of $600,000 and effectively close two clinics indefinitely. This order is valid until September 10th, when a new hearing will be held to determine if the injunction will be permanent.
Fingers crossed.
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Yeah, I’m waiting to see what’s going to happen. The law has nothing to do with women’s health and their safety.
Question: Is that “$60,000″ or “$600,000″ to renovate the clinics?
It’s $600,000. Thanks, I’ll replace the missing zero.
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