government
Texas abortion law can take effect
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 20, 2012
A federal judge said Feb. 6 that Texas may start enforcing a law requiring doctors to show and describe details of an ultrasound to women seeking abortions. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said he was forced to follow an appellate court's ruling declaring the law valid and ordering its immediate enforcement.
The Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state in June 2011 on behalf of physicians who provide abortions. The center said the law violated doctors' First Amendment rights and required them to perform a medically unnecessary service. Doctors who do not comply with the law could lose their medical licenses, be charged with misdemeanors and face fines of up to $10,000.
In August 2011, Sparks halted the law temporarily, but on Jan. 10 the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law was constitutional and could go into effect.
Although Sparks said he was compelled to abide by the appeals court decision, he stressed that the law's "one-size-fits-all approach seems to be the very antithesis of reasonable regulation of medical practice."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/02/20/gvbf0220.htm.
