Judge blocks Arkansas from enforcing four new abortion restrictions

A federal judge has blocked Arkansas from enforcing four new abortion restrictions, including a ban on a common second trimester procedure and a foetal remains law that opponents argued would effectively require a partner's consent before a woman could undergo a termination.

US District Court Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary last-minute injunction against the new restrictions, three of which were set to take effect this week.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Centre for Reproductive Rights had challenged the measures, suing on behalf of Dr Frederick Hopkins, an abortion provider in Little Rock.

The laws include a ban on a procedure known as dilation and evacuation, which pro-choice advocates say it is the safest and most common procedure used in second-trimester abortions, but the state argued is "barbaric" and a form of “dismemberment,” claiming it can have emotional consequences for women who undergo it.

Similar bans are in effect in Mississippi and West Virginia and have been blocked by court rulings in Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

A ban approved in Texas due to take effect in September is also being challenged in court. The groups said the ban would have a devastating impact.

“The threatened harm to Dr Hopkins and the fraction of women for whom the mandate is relevant clearly outweighs whatever damage or harm a proposed injunction may cause the State of Arkansas,” Ms Baker wrote in her ruling.

The groups praised the judge’s ruling, saying the laws would have effectively banned abortion for many women.

“Arkansas women can feel a little relief today, knowing that these laws are blocked from taking effect,” Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said in a statement.

“Instead of protecting women's health, Arkansas politicians have passed laws that defy decency and reason just to make it difficult or impossible for a woman to get an abortion.”

Judd Deere, a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, said in a text message that Rutledge disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.

Ms Baker's ruling also halts a law that would impose new restrictions on the disposal of foetal tissue from abortions.

The plaintiffs argued it could also block access by requiring notification of a third party, such as the woman's partner or her parents, to determine what happens to the foetal remains.

The state has said the law doesn't require permission or notice from those third parties before an abortion and includes several provisions that ensure notice or consent isn't required to dispose of the foetal remains.

Ms Baker said there was no evidence contradicting the groups' claims about the impact of complying with the tissue disposal requirements.

“The law mandates disclosure to a woman's partner or spouse, even if that person is no longer in her life or is a perpetrator of sexual assault,” Baker wrote.

“For minor women, it bypasses the state's constitutionally mandated judicial bypass process, through which a minor can choose not to involve her parent in her abortion decision and instead obtain judicial authorisation.”

Ms Baker also blocked part of a law set to take effect in January that would ban abortions based solely on the sex of the foetus. The groups challenged the legal requirement that a doctor performing the abortion first request records related to the entire pregnancy history of the woman.

“It will cause women to forgo abortion in Arkansas rather than risk disclosure to medical providers who they know oppose abortion or who are family friends or neighbours,” Ms Baker wrote.

The judge also blocked a law that would expand a requirement that doctors performing abortions for patients under the age of 14 take certain steps to preserve embryonic or foetal tissue and notify police where the young girl resides. The new measure, which was also set to take effect this coming week, would have raised the age requirement to those under years of age.

The ruling came hours after a federal appeals court panel cleared the way for Arkansas to enforce a law that will limit how the abortion pill can be administered. The panel lifted Ms Baker's order blocking the 2015 law requiring doctors who provide such pills to maintain a contract with another doctor who has admitting privileges at a hospital and who agrees to handle any complications. The state cannot enforce the abortion pill restrictions until the appeals panel's ruling takes effect in the next two to three weeks.