Dive Brief:
- Abortion providers challenged a Wisconsin law which requires doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. The suit was filed by Planned Parenthood and Affiliated Medical Services.
- U.S. District Judge William Conley permanently blocked the law in March, ruling any health benefits were negated by restricted access to abortion. The Wisconsin Department of Justice appealed to the 7th Circuit.
- The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said a statute that diminishes the constitutional right to an abortion, like the Wisconsin and Texas laws, can't withstand challenge without evidence that it's justified by benefits. The court ruled the law unconstitutional, 2 to 1.
Dive Insight:
Judge Richard Posner said in the ruling the law would endanger women by increasing the waiting time for abortions, which could force some procedures into the second trimester. "What makes no sense is to abridge the constitutional right to abortion on the basis of spurious contentions regarding women's health - and the abridgement challenged in this case would actually endanger women's health," he wrote. Judge David Manion was the dissenter, stating the law protects women's health.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a major abortion case earlier this month regarding a Texas law requiring abortion providers have admitting privileges and hospital-grade surgical facilities. This is the first major abortion case the court has heard since 2007.
Some state abortion restrictions have been allowed by the Supreme Court, including permitting states to mandate parental consent for minors. However, the court has said states cannot impose an "undue burden" on the right to end a pregnancy.