Federal appeals court rules South Dakota can force doctors to warn of suicide risk before performing abortion

Jul 26 2012

Reversing an earlier ruling, a South Dakota federal appeals court has ruled the state can require doctors to warn women before an abortion that they stand a greater risk of suicide.

The Associated Press: Appeals Court Upholds SD Abortion Suicide Advisory
South Dakota can require doctors to warn women seeking abortions that they face an increased risk of suicide if they go through with the procedure, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the portion of the 2005 South Dakota law dealing with the suicide advisory 7-4 (Eaton, 7/24).

Reuters: Appeals Court Upholds South Dakota Abortion Law's Suicide Advisory
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a South Dakota law requiring doctors to advise women seeking abortions that they face an increased risk of suicide after the procedure. The 7-4 ruling by the full 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a three-judge appellate panel in September 2011 that had ruled unconstitutional the suicide advisory provision in South Dakota's 2005 law (Bailey, 7/24).

A defunding of Planned Parenthood in North Carolina has turned into a boon for the group's federal funding in that state --

McClatchy Newspapers: Federal Grant Thwarts GOP-Led Effort To Close North Carolina Planned Parenthood Clinic
One of the battles won by the conservatives who took over the North Carolina Legislature this session was stripping Planned Parenthood of its funding. But it is turning out to be a short-lived victory. The women's health organization has successfully applied for federal funds and will soon receive more than three times the amount Republican lawmakers had withheld. "We've weathered these increasing attacks on women's health care access the past couple of years," Paige Johnson, vice president of external and governmental affairs for Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, said Tuesday. "Now we're able to do more for our patients" (Jarvis, 7/24).

And some Arizona doctors are suing to stop abortion restrictions --

Bloomberg: Arizona Doctors Seek to Block Law Banning Some Abortions
The Center for Reproductive Rights is urging a judge to block an Arizona law, set to take effect Aug. 2, that makes it a crime for physicians to perform abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. U.S. District Judge James Teilborg in Phoenix is to hear arguments today on a request by three doctors for an order preventing that part of the statute from being enforced while they seek a ruling that it's preempted by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The doctors are backed by lawyers at the reproductive rights group and the American Civil Liberties Union (Pettersson and Hermann, 7/25).