Advocacy Group, N.D. Abortion Clinic File Lawsuit To Block State Ultrasound Law

Healthcare Prof:

The Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, N.D., went to court on Thursday to block a state law from going into effect that would require the clinic to give women the option to view ultrasound images and hear a fetal heartbeat 24 hours before receiving abortion services, the AP/Bismarck Tribune reports. The suit was filed in East Central District Court by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of the clinic, which is the only abortion clinic in North Dakota. In the lawsuit, the clinic asked the court to issue a temporary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on Aug. 1. A hearing has been scheduled for July 30.

Suzanne Stolz, an attorney for CRR, said the law is “unconstitutional”” because it “creates an undue burden on a woman’s right to have an abortion.” In a statement, CRR said that the law requires an audible fetal heartbeat consistent with “standard medical practice in the community.” However, the Center said no such standard exists. In addition, Stolz said that the North Dakota law is less clear than laws in other states with ultrasound mandates that include a fetal heartbeat provision, including Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Furthermore, CRR said that the equipment needed to provide the audible heartbeat would be expensive for the clinic, although it did not say what the cost would be.

Tammi Kromenaker, director of the clinic, said it has offered women the option of viewing an ultrasound image since 2008. She said that the issue with the law is that it is not clear about whether a woman who chooses to view the image must also listen to the fetal heartbeat — which sometimes cannot be heard in the early stages of pregnancy — and about the level of technology the clinic must provide.

Mary Spaulding Balch, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee, said that the law is not burdensome to women seeking abortions and that it would only require the clinic to use “a simple device used by obstetrician[s] that amplifies” a fetal heartbeat. State Rep. Bette Grande (R), a sponsor of the law, said that the law does not require the Red River clinic to perform the ultrasound. She added that a woman seeking an abortion could receive the image and audio from another clinic prior to the procedure. Grande also noted that the law does not require women to view the ultrasound image and hear the fetal heartbeat — it “just says they will have this opportunity” (MacPherson, AP/Bismarck Tribune, 7/24).

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