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Under an agreement with the Louisiana health department, a group of abortion clinics has agreed to drop its legal challenge to a new state law (SB 528) requiring ultrasound scans before women can receive abortions, the AP/CNBC reports.

A federal judge in Baton Rouge approved the agreement on Wednesday (Deslatte, AP/CNBC, 8/19).
Previously, Louisiana required ultrasounds before abortion services for women who were more than 20 weeks pregnant. Under the new law, all women seeking abortion services must receive an ultrasound exam, and the ultrasound technician must offer women a chance to hear a description of the image, receive a photograph of it and view it on a video screen (Women's Health Policy Report, 8/9). The law does not include exceptions for rape or incest survivors.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is representing the plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit argued that the law is unconstitutionally vague because it does not state whether providers must force women to accept or view copies of the ultrasound. In addition, the plaintiffs argued that their clinics were in danger of being shut down because the state had not provided them with a list of locations that perform free ultrasounds to distribute to patients, another requirement of the law.

In the agreement, the state Department of Health and Hospitals clarifies that the law does not require women to receive the ultrasound images and only mandates that providers offer the photographs. The agreement also allows providers to continue performing abortions without providing the list of ultrasound locations until the state compiles and distributes the list.

Other Parts of Suit Continue

Another part of the lawsuit will continue -- a challenge to a second antiabortion-rights law (HB 1453) preventing physicians who perform elective abortions from receiving medical malpractice coverage. The suit argues that the measure improperly treats abortion providers differently than other physicians and prevents them from receiving equal legal protection.

Both measures won "overwhelming" support from lawmakers when they were approved in the legislative session that ended in June. Supporters of the measures said they hoped the bills would dissuade women from obtaining abortions (AP/CNBC, 8/19).

Source: National Partnership for Women & Families