The only measure blocked by the court pertains to early pregnancy.
District Judge Catherine Eagles ruled that most of North Carolina’s 12-week abortion law can go into effect as scheduled.
Judge Eagles was set to halt most of the legislation until state legislators revised the law to render challengers’ arguments legally moot. The only part of the legislation Judge Eagles blocked was a rule that required healthcare providers to confirm an early pregnancy before providing abortive procedures.
Most abortions done via medication are only effective during the first few weeks of pregnancy, but doctors cannot generally detect pregnancies until six to twelve weeks of gestation. The abortion providers were concerned that. in many instances, they would violate the law unknowingly if that rule came into effect, and Judge Eagles agreed.
“If the pregnancy is in early stages and the physician cannot document the existence of an intrauterine pregnancy, then the physician cannot comply with this requirement,” Judge Eagles wrote. She said she’ll revisit the rule as well as other challenges in upcoming hearings.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For federal judges as they rule on state laws regarding abortion.
- For state legislatures as they create and pass laws to protect the unborn.
- With gratitude to God that the Supreme Court returned the right to legislate abortion procedures to the states by overturning Roe v Wade last year.
Sources: PBS, CNN
