An Oklahoma law restricting access to medication abortions was blocked by a County District Judge, who ruled the state law unconstitutional yesterday.
HB 2684 was signed into law by Republican Governor Mary Fallin last year, prohibiting off-label use of the drug mifipristone. The Center for Reproductive rights then filed a lawsuit challenging the law. As RH Reality Check reported, the law “requires physicians to ignore decades of medical research, the opinion of leading medical organizations, and their own clinical experience, and instead administer medication abortion drugs according to an outdated and inferior regimen.”
The law would have banned medication abortions past 7 weeks, requiring patients to undergo an unnecessary surgical procedure rather than using medications alone. It also mirrors the efforts of Oklahoma politicians to force doctors to use an outdated protocol for administering a medication abortion using the drug mifepristone – one that the medical community and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have rejected in favor of a new standard of care that calls for a significantly lower dosage.
In October a state court failed to block this measure a month before it was supposed to take effect, however the Oklahoma Supreme Court then stepped in, blocking the law while the lawsuit continued.
Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish issued her ruling following a hearing yesterday morning, finding that the restrictions in this measure clearly violate the state constitution.
“Today’s ruling affirms that Oklahoma politicians cannot single out women for discrimination simply because they don’t agree with their health care decisions,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive rights.” For years, Oklahoma politicians have made it their mission to stand between women and safe, legal abortion care, and the courts have stepped in time and time again to stop them.”
Media Resources: Center for Reproductive Rights Press Release 9/30/14; RH Reality Check 10/1/14; Feminist Newswire 10/30/14;
