The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has struck down a 2011 North Carolina law that had required abortion providers to describe an ultrasound of a fetus to a patient, regardless of whether the pregnant woman consented to it.
Monday’s decision by a three-judge panel upheld the January ruling by U.S. District Judge Catharine Eagles that the Women’s Right to Know Act, which was passed over a veto by then-Gov. Bev Purdue, violated free speech rights.
“We’re very pleased with the 4th Circuit’s decision to take politics out of exam rooms,” said Suzanne Buckley, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice N.C. “From 2011 when this law was first passed, we feel like this is politicians imposing a political agenda on doctors and women seeking care. It’s wildly inappropriate, and clearly unconstitutional.”
While she’s pleased with the news, Buckley said she’s certain this fight isn’t over yet.
“The anti-choice leadership of the General Assembly is going to make sure that this case goes all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Buckley, “and they’re not going to stop.”
She added that First Amendment cases generally fare well in the U.S. Supreme Court, so she’s confident that today’s 4th Circuit ruling will stand.
In his written opinion, Appeals Court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III called the ultrasound law “ideological in intent and in kind.”
UPDATE: Noelle Talley, public information officer for the N.C. Dept. of Justice, released the following statement on Monday afternoon:
“The state of North Carolina will petition the US Supreme Court challenging today’s 4th Circuit Court’s decision in Stuart v. Camnitz to resolve a split in decisions by different federal circuit courts of appeal. Monday’s opinion holding North Carolina’s law unconstitutional is now in conflict with Lakey, a case involving a similar Texas law which the 5th Circuit Court upheld.”
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