Planned Parenthood Affiliate Files Lawsuit Against Neb. Antiabortion Law

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 30 Jun 2010 - 5:00 PDT

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On Monday, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Nebraska law (LB 594) that requires women seeking abortions to undergo extensive physical and mental health screenings, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. The law is scheduled to take effect July 15, and Planned Parenthood is seeking an injunction to prevent its implementation. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Neb., argues that the law places an undue burden on doctors and patients (Abourezk, Lincoln Journal Star, 6/28).

Supporters of the law contend that the screenings can help determine if women were pressured into ending their pregnancies or if they are likely to experience problems afterward, the AP/MSNBC reports. The law would require abortion providers to tell women if they have certain risk factors for physical or mental problems, but it would not prohibit providers from offering abortion care in those cases.

The suit states that the law "would ban abortions in Nebraska by imposing, as a condition to performing lawful abortions, impossible, unintelligible and unprecedented so-called 'informed consent' requirements on abortion providers that vastly stray from accepted and, indeed, good medical practice" (Beck, AP/MSNBC, 6/28). Planned Parenthood of the Heartland CEO Jill June said that the law is an attack on providers, patients and "on the ethics and integrity of the medical profession."

Planned Parenthood Federation of America attorney Mimi Liu said the law would require abortion providers to review an extensive body of literature related to any possible risk factors, even if the literature has not been accepted by the medical profession. As an example, Liu noted that doctors would have to inform patients of studies indicating a link between abortion and breast cancer -- a theory that has been debunked by major medical organizations, including the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.

"Since it is impossible to comply [with the law], there is one way, and only one way, that a physician can be certain he or she is not violating LB 594: Cease providing abortion care," Liu said, adding, "That amounts to a ban on a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy."

The suit names several state officials, including Gov. Dave Heineman (R), Attorney General Jon Bruning (R) and Department of Health and Human Services CEO Kerry Winterer. Allen Forkner, a spokesperson for Bruning, said the attorney general's office is still reviewing the suit, adding, "We will defend the state against this lawsuit."

Fetal Pain Law

June did not say whether Planned Parenthood intends to file a lawsuit against a second antiabortion law (LB 1103) that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks' gestation based on supporters' claims that fetuses can experience pain at that stage (Lincoln Journal Star, 6/28).

Attorneys and advocates on both sides of the debate have noted that the outcome of a challenge to the law could "change the legal landscape for abortion," the AP/MSNBC reports. Existing abortion laws use viability as the determining factor for when the procedure can be performed (AP/MSNBC, 6/28).

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