here's a legal case you SHOULD follow- Courtroom Battle Begins on Abortion Sonogram Law

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-health-resources/abortion-texas/courtroom-battle-begins-on-abortion-sonogram-law/

Opposing legal teams presented arguments at the first courtroom hearing on Texas' new abortion sonogram law on Wednesday, and U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said he hoped to rule by September on whether the measure could take effect.

The law, passed by the Legislature and quickly signed by Gov. Rick Perry in May, requires doctors performing abortions to conduct a sonogram of the fetus and describe it in detail to the mother. Women seeking abortions must then wait 24 hours before having the abortion performed, unless they live more than 100 miles away from the nearest clinic, in which case the waiting period is only two hours. Exemptions to the law are provided in cases of rape or incest, medical emergency or in the case of fetal abnormality or defect.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit against the law in June, before requesting an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect on Sept. 1. In the suit, Texas Medical Providers Performing Abortion Services. v. Department of State Health Services Commissioner David Lakey, the group argues that the law violates the equal protection clause by “subjecting to paternalistic ‘protections’ not imposed on men” and the First Amendment rights of doctors by “forcing physicians to deliver politically-motivated communications” to their patients.

To Sparks' surprise, the plaintiffs said they weren't arguing the most common avenue for challenging abortion restrictions, the Supreme Court's standard that such laws must not place an "undue burden" on the availability of the procedure. Instead, most of Wednesday's debate focused on whether the law was unconstitutionally vague, and how the law’s statutes would be applied.