Suits filed challenging abortion limitations

NEW YORK — Taking the offensive after Election Day setbacks, Planned Parenthood and its allies filed lawsuits Wednesday in North Carolina, Missouri and Alaska challenging laws that they view as unconstitutional restrictions on abortion.

“We are going to fight back state by state and law by law until every person has the right to pursue the life they want, including the right to decide to end a pregnancy,” said Planned Parenthood’s chief medical officer, Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley.

McDonald-Mosley was joined at a teleconference by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights, which are partners in the litigation. The attorneys said the lawsuits are a follow-up to a major U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that struck down tough abortion laws in Texas.

The restrictions being challenged in Missouri are similar to those that the high court struck down in Texas. They require abortion clinics to meet physical standards for surgical centers and mandate that their doctors have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals.

Partly as a result of those laws, only one licensed abortion clinic remains in operation in Missouri. To reach that clinic in St. Louis, some women must drive more than 300 miles, Planned Parenthood officials said.

“A woman must be able to make health decisions at different points in her pregnancy that are best for her circumstances, including whether to end a pregnancy, without interference from politicians,” said Irena Como, staff attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina.

The lawsuits were announced as supporters of abortion rights brace for renewed anti-abortion efforts at the state and federal level in the aftermath of the sweeping Republican victories on Election Day.