Abortion drug treatment bill blocked by judge in Oklahoma

A judge blocked a law in Oklahoma that would have disallowed women from procuring drug-induced abortions. The reasoning for the law is the usual line, “it’s for the health of the woman” even though the abortion pill is used successfully all over the country and has been since 2000, accounting for about 1/4 of the abortions obtained by women.

via Reuters.

The law had been scheduled to go into effect on November 1, but state District Judge Dan Owens issued a temporary restraining order in a victory for abortion rights advocates.

Nova Health Systems, which operates a clinic in Tulsa, and the nonprofit Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice had filed a lawsuit to block the law.

They will ask Owens to issue a permanent injunction to kill the law, said attorney Michelle Mohaved of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the plaintiffs. She said she was “thrilled” by the ruling.

Let’s hope they are successful. This law would be a huge step back for giving women simple, safe and effective access to abortion in Oklahoma. The health concern angle has been discredited repeatedly, so at a certain point they have to accept that this law is not based on fact, but instead political ideology.