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Friday, July 01, 2011

Judge Blocks South Dakota's Abortion Counseling Law

Yesterday a federal judge blocked a South Dakota law scheduled to go into effect July 1st.  This law would have required women wait 72 hours after seeing a doctor to have an abortion, and require them to seek counseling from an anti-choice crisis pregnancy center prior to the procedure. 
On Thursday, a federal judge blocked a South Dakota measure that would have forced women to visit a counseling center and wait 72 hours before obtaining an abortion.
The law, set to take effect on Friday, required women to visit a so-called "crisis pregnancy center"—which are often run by religious and anti-abortion groups—before having an abortion. It also imposed the longest mandatory waiting period in the country. Judge Karen Schreier of the US District Court in South Dakota granted a preliminary injunction sought by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, ruling that the law is likely be found unconstitutional.
The law inspired outrage from abortion rights advocates, who note that crisis pregnancy centers are unregulated, frequently staffed by unqualified volunteers, have been found to provide false information, and often exist for the sole purpose of discouraging women from going forward with an abortion. The text of the law passed in South Dakota didn't really hide that goal, stating that the aim of the measure was to help women "maintain and keep their relationship with their unborn children."
Read more at Mother Jones

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