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http://http//www.kark.com/news/politics/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-ar-law-restricting-medication-abortion/1205895267

By: Pete Williams

WASHINGTON (NBC News) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to consider whether a controversial Arkansas law restricting access to medication abortions unconstitutionally burdens a woman's access to abortion services.

By rejecting the legal challenge, the justices allowed a lower court order to lapse that had blocked enforcement of the law, which was passed in 2015. As a result, the restriction will soon take effect.

It applies to medication abortions, which do not require surgery and are available only in the early stages of pregnancy. Patients are given a pill in a doctor's office and take a second one at home a few days later.

The Arkansas law, the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act, requires doctors providing medication abortions to have a contract with another doctor, who must have hospital admitting privileges. Its sponsors described it as a safety measure helping to assure that complications arising at home could be quickly treated.

Planned Parenthood sued to block the law, calling it medically unnecessary. In the rare case when complications arise, the group said, patients are at home and typically seek treatment at a hospital emergency room. And it said because its clinics could not find any doctors willing to accept a contract with a Planned Parenthood-affiliated physician, clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville would stop offering abortion services if the law went into effect.

"It would make Arkansas the only state to effectively ban medication abortion," Planned Parenthood said. "The restriction would eliminate entirely a safe, common method of early abortion and force all women in the state to travel to a single provider in Little Rock to have a surgical procedure, thereby preventing many women from obtaining an abortion altogether."

The state countered that the procedure is not common, with just 14 percent of Arkansas abortion patients opting for a medication abortion, and that those who seek it are more likely to experience complications.

Arkansas also called the law "a carefully targeted response to medication abortion's unique risks profile" and said it would impose a system similar to one adopted earlier by Texas which required abortion providers to have a working arrangement with a doctor who had hospital admitting privileges.

A federal judge in Little Rock blocked enforcement of the law, finding it similar to a Texas law declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two years ago. It required doctors providing abortion services to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

But the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the lower court's stay to be lifted and sent the case back to the trial judge for further proceedings to find an estimate of how many women would be burdened by the contract physician requirement. The appeals court allowed the stay of enforcement to remain in effect until the Supreme Court decided whether to hear the case.

Arkansas Reaction:

Congressman French Hill (AR-02) - “I commend the Supreme Court today and stand with the people of Arkansas who have spoken through the legislature in support of the pro-life cause and have stated their desire for ensuring access to safe, effective, and affordable health care services for women in Arkansas and throughout the country.”

Governor Asa Hutchinson - “The Supreme Court’s decision today was good news for those who are concerned about health and safety in the administration of medically induced abortions. Not only does the Court’s action uphold Arkansas law but it also underscores the importance and necessity of protecting women, as well as the unborn, with common-sense measures.”  

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge - “As Attorney General, I have fully defended this law at every turn and applaud the Supreme Court’s decision against Planned Parenthood today. Protecting the health and well-being of women and the unborn will always be a priority. We are a pro-life state and always will be as long as I am Attorney General.”

Family Council Executive Director Jerry Cox - “This is very good news for people who care about the safety of women in Arkansas. It's not too much to require an abortion doctor to have a contract that allows him or her to have their emergency patients to be admitted to a local hospital. Women who are bleeding from a botched abortion shouldn't have to drive to the emergency room and admit themselves into the hospital. They deserve better treatment and this good law does that.”

“Until the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issues an order making the law binding, it is my understanding that opponents of the law can hurry to Federal Court and ask Judge Kristine Baker, the federal judge who initially declared the law unconstitutional, to issue some type of injunction barring enforcement of the law. This could delay enforcement, but likely not prevent it.”

“This is a pro-life victory not only for the women of Arkansas, but for women across the nation. I'm sure other states will be looking at Arkansas and considering following our example.”

Planned Parenthood Reaction:

Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America - “Arkansas is now shamefully responsible for being the first state to ban medication abortion. This dangerous law immediately ends access to safe, legal abortion at all but one health center in the state. If that’s not an undue burden, what is? This law cannot and must not stand. We will not stop fighting for every person’s right to access safe, legal abortion.” 

Dr. Brandon Hill, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood Great Plains - “We are deeply disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to deny Arkansas women the opportunity to be heard. Act 577 is the triumph of politicians over science, and it’s women who will suffer as a result. Its requirements are dangerous and medically unnecessary, and they are nothing more than a repackaged version of the restrictions struck down by the Supreme Court in Whole Woman’s Health. We are working urgently to restore access to medication abortion services at our health centers in Fayetteville and Little Rock. We will not stop fighting to ensure that every woman has access to essential, constitutionally-protected care, without politicians controlling when, how or why.” 

Non-Profit and Advocacy Group Reactions:

Kaylie Hanson Long, NARAL Pro-Choice America National Communications Director - “Seven in 10 Americans believe that abortion should remain legal and accessible, yet the anti-choice GOP remains obsessed with ignoring the will of the people and using every tool at their disposal, including the courts, to chip away at our fundamental rights."

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony List - “The Arkansas legislature has wisely required connection with a physician who has admitting privileges so that the state’s women are not abandoned in the midst of a harrowing process that can inflict great physical and mental harm.”