Federal judge blocks Indiana law that would require ultrasound before abortions

A federal judge has blocked an Indiana law that would have required pregnant women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours prior to an abortion.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a preliminary injunction against the mandate on Friday, stating that the requirement is likely unconstitutional and creates "clearly undue" burdens on women.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana, along with Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, sued the state last July, asserting that the law was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from obtaining abortions, The Associated Press reported.

Pratt, who heard arguments on the case in November, found that the state had not presented "compelling evidence" to support its argument that the mandate would help convince pregnant women not to have an abortion.

"Simply put, the State has not provided any convincing evidence that requiring an ultrasound to occur eighteen hours prior to an abortion rather than on the day of an abortion makes it any more likely that a woman will choose not to have an abortion," the judge wrote.

Her ruling cited a study of 15,000 women served by Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. The findings indicated that 99 percent of women proceeded with an abortion after not viewing the ultrasound, compared with 98.4 percent who viewed the ultrasound.

Betty Cockrum, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said that the judge's decision was an "an incredibly strong ruling" that protects Indiana women's right to an abortion from needless burdens.

"I would prefer that the Legislature figure out that it's not their job to practice medicine, and that we would in fact get politicians out of our doctors' offices," Cockrum said.

Planned Parenthood reportedly admitted that it only had ultrasound machines at four of its locations in the state when it filed the lawsuit against the 18-hour ultrasound mandate. The abortion provider had 23 clinics around the state at that time, according to Life News.

The mandate was signed by then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence into law in March 2016 and took effect on July 1, 2016, a day after Pratt blocked one of the law's provisions that would have banned abortions because of the unborn baby's genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Another provision requiring the cremation and burial of aborted fetuses was also blocked by the judge.

The 18-hour ultrasound law replaced a previous Indiana provision that required women to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion but did not specify when that had to occur.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said in a statement that his office is considering the next steps in the case. Ken Falk, the legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said that the state had 30 days to appeal Pratt's ruling.