Judge blocks mandate forcing ultrasounds
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge has blocked an Indiana mandate forcing women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion, ruling that the requirement is likely unconstitutional and creates “clearly undue” burdens on women, particularly low-income women.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt’s ruling, issued Friday, grants a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the ultrasound waiting period. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana had sued the state last July, contending the mandate was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from getting abortions.
Pratt’s ruling said the waiting period “creates significant financial and other burdens” on Planned Parenthood and its patients, particularly low-income women who face lengthy travel to one of only six Planned Parenthood health centres that can offer an informed-consent ultrasound appointment.
The judge found that Indiana provided no compelling evidence that requiring an ultrasound at least the day before an abortion, rather than on the same day, “makes it any more likely that a woman will choose not to have an abortion.”
“Given the lack of evidence that the new ultrasound law has the benefits asserted by the State, the law likely creates an undue burden on women’s constitutional rights,” she wrote.
The ultrasound mandate is part of a wide-ranging abortion restrictions law that took effect July 1, 2016, a day after Pratt blocked the law’s provision that would have banned abortions sought because of a fetus’ genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. The judge also blocked a provision requiring that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.
Then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is now vice-president, signed the legislation into law in March 2016.