Judge hearing arguments over Miss. abortion law

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) ? A federal judge in Mississippi is hearing arguments Wednesday over whether an anti-abortion law should be allowed to go into effect and possibly close the state's only abortion clinic.

U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III temporarily blocked the law on July 1. The judge gave the clinic and the government one hour each Wednesday afternoon to argue over the law, which requires anyone performing abortions at the clinic in Jackson to be an OB-GYN with privileges to admit patients to a local hospital.

The clinic, Jackson Women's Health Organization, says it has been unable to obtain admitting privileges for its two out-of-state OB-GYNs because local hospitals have not responded to their requests. The clinic says the state can't place undue burdens or substantial obstacles to women seeking abortion, as the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

Admitting privileges can be difficult to get because hospitals might not grant them to out-of-state physicians, or hospitals with religious affiliations might not give them to doctors who perform abortions.

The clinic said it would face "irreparable harm" if the law were to be enforced because hospitals haven't said when ? or if ? they'll consider the admitting privileges. The clinic wants the judge to continue to block the law to see if its doctors can get the privileges.

"If they're denied or if the hospitals are dragging their feet, that's going to be more clear evidence that there's a substantial obstacle" to access to an abortion, clinic attorney Robert McDuff said.

The government says the privileges help protect patients by ensuring they have continuity of care if a woman needs to go to the hospital. They also note that while the clinic might have to wait to get hospital privileges, "inconvenience is not 'irreparable harm.'"

Before the arguments began, the judge instructed spectators and attorneys about proper behavior.

"This is a court of law, and it's not a political debate," Jordan said.

The judge questioned the state's attorney, who had argued that any anti-abortion statements by elected officials were "weak evidence" that the purpose of the law, which was passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature, was to prevent abortions.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant said the day he signed the bill: "If it closes that clinic, then so be it."

The clinic uses out-of-state physicians because in-state physicians generally don't want to face the social pressure of having protesters at their offices, homes or churches, clinic employees say.

Opponents of the law say any patient experiencing complications could receive immediate care from emergency room physicians. The clinic for the past several years has had a transfer agreement with a local OB-GYN who has hospital admitting privileges. He doesn't perform abortions at the clinic but provides backup help by agreeing to meet clinic patients at a hospital if there's an emergency.

Clinic owner Diane Derzis said since she acquired Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2010, no woman has had to be taken from the clinic by ambulance.

The U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 established a nationwide right to abortion. In 1992, the court's decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey upheld the Roe decision and allowed states to regulate abortions before fetuses are viable. The 1992 decision also said states may not place undue burdens or substantial obstacles to women seeking abortion.

If the clinic closed, abortion could be nearly impossible to obtain in Mississippi. The closest clinics to Jackson are about 200 miles away, in Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama.

Mississippi physicians who perform fewer than 10 abortions a month can avoid having their offices regulated as an abortion clinic, and thus avoid restrictions in the new law. The clinic's owner has said the clinic is unlikely to stay open and perform that few abortions per month. The Health Department said it doesn't have a record of how many physicians perform fewer than 10 abortions a month.

Clinic operators say almost all the abortions in the state are done in their building. They say in court papers that the clinic did about 3,000 abortions in 18 months.

The judge has several options.

He could extend the temporary restraining order and give himself time to issue a written ruling on the clinic's request for a preliminary injunction.

He could rule immediately from the bench, granting a preliminary injunction and giving attorneys on both sides time to prepare for a trial that could take place weeks or months from now.

Or he could allow the state to begin enforcing the law.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-hearing-arguments-over-miss-abortion-law-185459738.html

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