Fargo Women's Clinic asks courts to prevent new ND abortion law from taking effect

Talk about it

FARGO – The Red River Women’s Clinic has filed a lawsuit to stop a North Dakota law that would require the abortion clinic to give women an opportunity to view an ultrasound 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.

The law would limit women’s ability to obtain an abortion because of a vague and confusing restriction, according to a news release issued by the Center for Reproductive Rights, a national organization that advocates for “reproductive freedom,” according to its Web site.

The new North Dakota law, schedule to take effect Aug. 1, includes a provision to make a fetal heartbeat audible during an ultrasound, but is not clear whether the facility must offer the woman the opportunity to listen to the heartbeat. The cost of the equipment needed to listen to a fetal heartbeat would impose a high financial burden on the facility, according to the release.

The clinic is asking a North Dakota court to issue a temporary injunction preventing the law from taking effect while the court reviews the legal challenge, the release said.

“This law does nothing to enhance the safety of abortion care and in the end, just subjects the only clinic in North Dakota to strict criminal liability for failing to conform to a medical standard that doesn’t exist,” said Suzanne Stolz, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “The staff at Red River would either be forced to choose between stopping providing abortions altogether—in effect, denying women in the state access to abortion—or risking criminal prosecution to continue providing abortion services.”

A hearing in the case is scheduled for July 30.

For more on this story, see Friday’s Forum

Tags: north dakota, courts and crime, news, health, abortion, fargo, daily updates