A 2016 law requiring women in Indiana to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion will go into effect on Jan. 1 following Planned Parenthood’s request to withdraw its lawsuit that temporarily blocked the restriction.
“Planned Parenthood has conceded defeat,” The Associated Press quoted Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill.
The Indiana state legislature passed the measure in 2016 and it was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence, now the vice president of the United States.
Planned Parenthood sued and obtained an injunction from U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. But in July, following subsequent appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered it back to the circuit court to rehear the case in light of its most recent decisions on the issue.
In a court filing Wednesday that included a deal reached with the state, Planned Parenthood cited “events that have occurred in the more than three years since this court entered the preliminary injunction.”
It also cited the obtaining of an ultrasound machine for its Fort Wayne facility.
Hill said the New Year’s date for the law to go into effect was agreed to give Planned Parenthood time to train its Fort Wayne staff how to operate ultrasound equipment.
“The concession makes clear that if anything threatened women’s ability to obtain abortions, it was Planned Parenthood’s own business decisions, not the challenged law — an argument that the State made all along,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
“I’m pleased that Planned Parenthood saw the likelihood that this very reasonable law ultimately would be upheld. To their credit, they recognized the merits of avoiding further legal wrangling over this matter.”
Planned Parenthood did not respond to requests for comment from several media outlets.
When issuing the injunction that blocked the law from taking effect, Pratt, appointed by then-President Barack Obama, ruled that it “creates significant financial and other burdens” on women seeking abortions.
She found “no compelling evidence” to support Indiana’s argument that the restriction was intended to convince women not to have an abortion.
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