A federal judge ruled on Friday that nearly all of North Carolina’s revised 12-week abortion law scheduled to begin this weekend can take effect, while temporarily blocking one rule that doctors feared could expose them to criminal penalties.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles sets aside that rule but allows the law’s remaining provisions to begin on Saturday while litigation continues.
Eagles, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, had said in court that it would be overly broad to block enforcement of the entire law. Instead, she directed that for at least the next two weeks, the state cannot enforce a rule saying doctors must document the existence of a pregnancy within the uterus before conducting a medication abortion.
Peter Im, a Planned Parenthood attorney, said the plaintiffs had already received much of what they had sought in the lawsuit through the legislature’s revisions. And now with Eagles’ order, “it is clear that we can provide care to patients at the very earliest stages of pregnancy,” Im said. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the abortion law in May, but Republicans overrode him using their veto-proof GOP majorities in both chambers. Cooper then signed on Thursday the clean-up bill, which had overwhelming bipartisan support. Although a strong abortion-rights supporter, Cooper said it was important to clarify the rules because the original measure was “so poorly written that it is causing real uncertainty for doctors and other health care providers.
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