A
United States District Court judge has refused to block the implementation of
new abortion regulations in Arizona. Judge
David C. Bury decided (31 Mar) to not temporarily block new regulations for the
Arizona Department of Health Services
based on HB 2036, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer in
2012.
The
regulations that took effect on (1 Apr) require abortionists to adhere to FDA guidelines for prescribing and
dispensing abortion-inducing drugs, such as RU486. Such measures ban the use of abortion-inducing
drugs after the seventh week of pregnancy.
Attorneys
for Planned Parenthood and other
abortion providers claim that requiring abortionists to follow the FDA’s guidelines will harm women,
because they will no longer be able to prescribe these drugs through the ninth
week of pregnancy.
“Whether
or not these factors are substantial obstacles to abortion remains to be seen,
but based on the limited record before the Court they do not qualify as
irreparable harm,” ruled Judge Bury.
The
Arizona chapter of Planned Parenthood
and the Center for Reproductive Rights
had sued the state over the new regulations and are planning to file an appeal
with the Ninth Circuit Court. In a
statement the Center for Reproductive
Rights staff attorney David Brown expressed disapproval of Bury's denial of
an injunction against the regulations. “Arizona
women should not be denied their constitutional rights or their ability to get
critical healthcare from the medical professionals they trust while this
unconstitutional law continues to make its way through the courts,” stated
Brown.
The
Center for Arizona Policy, a pro-life
organization that has supported several state-level bills to regulate or
restrict abortion, approves of the new rules.
“When Planned Parenthood
loses, women win,” stated Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy. “It's
common-sense regulations protecting the health and safety of women considering
an abortion.”
Arizona
is not the only state that has passed an increasingly number of pro-life
legislative agenda items. In past years,
states like Kansas and Oklahoma have passed laws regulating the distribution of
RU486. They placed the limit at seven
weeks, with Arizona’s 2012 law echoing that standard.
“Today's
decision by a federal court to deny a request by Arizona’s largest abortion
provider to temporarily block a common sense health and safety standard is a
victory for anyone who cares for the well-being of women,” continued Herrod. “I call on the abortion giant to drop their
challenge. It would be shameful for Planned Parenthood to continue to waste
state resources by pressing on with this frivolous lawsuit.”
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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