Federal judge blocks two provisions of North Carolina near-total ban on abortions after 12 weeks, ru
Source: CNN
Federal judge blocks two provisions of North Carolina near-total ban on abortions after 12 weeks, ruling in favor of advocacy groups
By Mitchell McCluskey and Emma Tucker, CNN
Published 7:43 PM EDT, Sat September 30, 2023
(CNN) — A federal judge on Saturday blocked two provisions of a near-total ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy from taking effect in North Carolina, saying that one of the provisions is unconstitutionally vague, while the other lacks medical evidence.
Senate Bill 20, dubbed the “Care for Women, Children and Families Act,” bans any licensed physician from performing abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. It provides exceptions in the case of rape and incest through 20 weeks of pregnancy or in the event of a “life-limiting anomaly” through 24 weeks.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood and physician Beverly Gray jointly filed a lawsuit on June 26 challenging the bill before it took effect on July 1, arguing its restrictions on abortion access will “harm patients and impede health care professionals from providing care.”
In an order issued on Saturday, US District Judge Catherine Eagles halted the enforcement of a provision requiring surgical abortions administered after 12 weeks to exclusively take place in hospitals rather than abortion clinics. She said the plaintiffs showed the state legislature’s “absence of any rational medical basis” for the mandate, which was set to take effect on Sunday.
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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/30/us/north-carolina-abortion-ban-provisions-blocked/index.html
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