Judge Rules Oklahoma Ultrasound Requirement Unconstitutional

An Oklahoma law to require women seeking abortion to have an ultrasound and listen to the doctor's description of the ultrasound was struck down as unconstitutional yesterday, but on technical grounds.

An Oklahoma law to require women seeking abortion to have an ultrasound
and listen to the doctor’s description of the ultrasound was struck
down as unconstitutional yesterday, on technical grounds.  Judge
Vicki Robertson ruled that the law "violated constitutional
requirements that legislative measures deal only with one subject," the
New York Times reports.

The decision does not address the constitutionality of requiring ultrasounds themselves.  The Los Angeles Times explains,

Her ruling also overturned provisions in the law that allowed doctors
and other healthcare providers to refuse to take part in an abortion
for moral or religious reasons, required certain signs to be placed in
clinics where abortions are performed, and prohibited wrongful-life
lawsuits arguing that a disabled child would have been better off
aborted.


State Senator Todd Lamb, the law’s principal
author, will fight the ruling, the New York Times adds:

Lamb said he would he would ask the attorney general to appeal the
injunction and, if unsuccessful, would probably introduce a replacement measure next year.