Supreme Court Blocks Appeal, Allowing Arkansas To Restrict Medical Abortions
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case from a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arkansas on Tuesday, letting stand a lower court decision upholding a law that would restrict medication-induced abortions in the state.
The law states that doctors providing abortion pills “must hold a contract with another physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital and who would agree to handle complications,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Physicians who do not abide by that requirement may face criminal penalties.
The Supreme Court did not comment on why it decided not to hear the Planned Parenthood affiliate’s case, which argued that the law is medically unnecessary and compared it to a Texas measure that the high court struck down in 2016.
That law would require doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Attorneys for Arkansas argued that their law is different because it does not have proximity criteria for hospitals where doctors have admitting privileges.
Having a medical abortion is commonly known as taking the abortion pill and entails taking two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone is taken at a clinic, and misoprostol is taken six to 48 hours later, usually at home. The medicines cause cramping and an emptying of the uterus. According to a study conducted in 2014, 1 in 20 women will have an abortion by age 20, about 1 in 5 by age 30 and about 1 in 4 by age 45.
Planned Parenthood said it will now challenge the law in U.S. district court, according to CNN. Arkansas currently may enforce the law, and if it does, it will be the only state to effectively ban medical abortion.
Planned Parenthood clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville in Arkansas offer just medical abortions, meaning the state’s only other abortion clinic ― also in Little Rock ― is likely the only one that would continue operating if the law takes effect, since it also performs surgical abortions.
As Greg Stohr noted in Bloomberg, this limitation would mean some women in the state would have to “travel hundreds of miles to reach the remaining Little Rock clinic.”
Also on HuffPost
Lisa
"No regrets. You never think about how you're going to feel when you do it. And when I did it, it was pretty straight-forward... The decision to do it wasn't hard and afterwards it hasn't been hard in that area. I mean, I've had struggles... And I thought I would maybe think about what it would be like if I went through with the pregnancy and having a child and I don't think about it. I don't try to think about it. I don't try not to, I just -- I don't."
Read the rest of Lisa's story here.
Jennifer
"I was against abortion. I really was -- I was against it. My mom has gone through so many troubles with pregnancies that I wouldn't want to do that... But at the same time, at the time I only had one parent there. My father was incarcerated, so I knew he'd be super duper disappointed in me. And then my mom was just like, 'You know if you get pregnant you're out of here because you're grown.' After that, I made my decision in about two months. After the procedure, I was crying. As soon as I woke up from the bed, I was crying. Crying, crying. And a woman next to me asked me how old I was, and I said 17. She said 'You did the right thing girl. You did the right thing because you're too young. You have your whole life ahead of you.'"
Read the rest of Jennifer's story here.
Aiyana
"It definitely has been really rewarding in some ways at least I know I can give friends or acquaintances of mine somebody to talk to, who can give them advice or give them resources that they might not otherwise be aware of... Obviously it's something private. But if it's something that you feel ok talking about, I think that vocalization is important. I think it can help remove the stigma that's attached to having an abortion."
Read the rest of Aiyana's story here.
Lisa
"I regret the choices that I made with regard to the men I was with... that's time that I can't get back. But, I do not regret the decision to terminate those pregnancies. That was the right decision for each one of those pregnancies that was tied to each one of those men."
Read the rest of Lisa's story here.
Leigh
"I didn't take it lightly. It took every inch of strength inside of me to be able to do it, but I knew it was the right decision to make. I know it was the right decision to make. I've never doubted that. I don't regret it but I don't think I could ever stomach being able to do it again. I think I was just about to turn 22... I would have had a 4 and a half year-old right now."
Read more about Leigh's story here.
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
