SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A federal judge on Thursday afternoon granted Planned Parenthood’s preliminary injunction to prevent a new South Dakota abortion law from taking effect while it’s being challenged in court.
The law, which would have taken effect today, requires women seeking abortions to face a three-day waiting period and undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers that discourage abortion.
The lawsuit says the law violates a woman’s constitutional right to abortion established under the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling.
Supporters of the measure say the Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls gives women little information or counseling before they have abortions done by doctors flown in from out of state. They say the bill would help make sure women are not being coerced into abortions by boyfriends or relatives.
Also Thursday, Kansas avoided becoming the first state in the country without an abortion provider by granting Planned Parenthood a license to continue performing abortions under new regulations being challenged in federal court.
The new rules from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment tell abortion providers what drugs and equipment they must have on hand, how big some of their rooms must be and the specific temperatures allowed in procedure and recovery rooms. The department is imposing them under a new licensing law that takes effect today.
