In a landmark decision defying the written law, a North Carolina law allowing women to get an ultrasound before abortion was struck down by a Federal Appeals Court. The law states that a waiting period of 24 hour is required and abortion must be conducted after the woman’s informed consent.
It is in place due to its practical application of allowing a woman time to make her decision, given the age of the fetus. However, the court made the ruling because the North Carolina does not want to take sides in the abortion debate.
The same law was challenged by Planned Parenthood and ACLU earlier and according to a study, an ultrasound is conducted by 99% of abortion clinics for finding out the age of the fetus where the concerned woman is allowed to hear the heartbeat as well. However, the court has now placed an injunction of a temporary nature on this law.
Steve H. Aden who is involved in the case and is the senior counsel mentioned that the purpose of the law was to provide women with important information, as is customary before any vital surgery, and hoped that the law would eventually be upheld because it is there to protect the lives and well-being of women. He also said that this was about a lot more than just a pro-life and pro-choice argument.
NCRTL’s executive director Barbara Holt also expressed disappointment at the decision of the court, emphasizing that women deserved all the facts before they made the decision.