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Monday, June 28, 2010

Planned Parenthood files a lawsuit against Nebraska law

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed a lawsuit Monday against Nebraska leaders claiming a state law passed in April places requirements on abortion providers in the state that are impossible to meet and are unconstitutional.

"This act is an attack on our patients," said Jill June, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. "This act is an attack on providers, and it is an attack on the ethics and integrity of the medical profession."
Planned Parenthood filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. The lawsuit seeks to stop implementation of LB594, which the Legislature passed in April. The law was meant to require doctors to inform patients of possible risk factors related to abortions.

The law is set to take effect July 15.

Mimi Liu, attorney for Planned Parenthood, said the law would require abortion providers to conduct an exhaustive review of literature related to any potential abortion risk factors, regardless of whether such literature has been accepted by the medical profession.

2 comments:

codongolev said...

so wait.... telling the patient that an abortion is not, in fact, a safe and 100% reliable procedure is an attack on the patient? I fail to see the logic.

JAC said...

Codongolev, that is not what the suit is discussing. If you read the complete article, what they are contesting is providers having to state every possible complication, whether those complications have been validated by the medical community. Specifically cited is the alleged connection between abortion and breast cancer. There is not a proven link - in fact this "link" has been debunked by the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, but it is a commonly used argument to show that there are "hidden dangers" to having an abortion, which is still a legal medical procedure. Doctors would be required to offer this kind of false information to patients under this law.

An abortion is a medical procedure, and as such has the potential for complications. The attack on the patient in this case is having a provider required to provide any and all reports that have been linked to abortion, whether or not they have been proven and accepted by the medical establishment.