Judge: Mississippi's sole abortion clinic can stay open for now
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Source: LA Times
By David Zucchino
A federal judge on Wednesday left in place an injunction blocking a new law in Mississippi that could effectively shut down the state’s only abortion clinic, located in Jackson, Miss.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III extended the injunction but did not say how long it would remain in effect. The law, passed by the Republican-led legislature in April and made effective July 1, requires anyone performing an abortion to be a certified obstetrician/gynecologist with admitting privileges at a local hospital.
Doctors who perform abortions at the Jackson Women’s Health Organization are OB/GYNS, the clinic says, but they must travel from other states -- and don’t have local admitting privileges. The clinic has said the law would cause "irreparable harm" because local hospitals have not said when, or if, they would grant privileges.
Critics of the law say it's designed to make obtaining abortions difficult or impossible in Mississippi, in defiance of a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states cannot place undue burdens on a woman’s right to an abortion. The bill’s legislative sponsor, state Rep. Sam C. Mims, has denied that the law is an anti-abortion measure, saying it's designed to protect women’s health by ensuring continuous care.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-abortion-mississippi-clinic-20120711,0,5378406.story
http://www.trbimg.com/img-4ffde231/turbine/la-na-nn-abortion-mississippi-clinic-20120711-001/600
Anti-abortion advocates stand outside Mississippi's only abortion clinic last month. (Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press)
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