A federal judge blocked three new abortion restrictions from taking effect Wednesday in Arkansas, including a measure that opponents say would likely force the state’s only surgical abortion clinic to close.
shortly before midnight. The 159-page order blocks the state from enforcing the new laws, including a measure prohibiting the procedure 18 weeks into a pregnancy. They also included a requirement that doctors performing abortions be board-certified or board-eligible in obstetrics and gynecology. An official with a Little Rock clinic that performs surgical abortions says it has one physician who meets that requirement, but he only works there a few days every other month.
The challenge was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by the ACLU of Arkansas. Its spokeswoman, Holly Dickson, said ACLU attorneys were poring over the order and would have a statement later Wednesday. For now, “We are so relieved that these bans and restrictions have been temporarily blocked from taking effect. And we are determined to see them blocked for good,” she said.
Little Rock Family Planning has said it has one physician who meets that requirement, but he lives in California and only works at the clinic three to four days every other month.
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