Arizona abortion restrictions to remain blocked
A federal appeals court has decided to continue blocking the nation's strictest restrictions on the use of abortion drugs.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday to keep in place the injunction against Arizona's new rules while a lawsuit is pending. The panel says the rules appear to cause an "undue burden" on women's right to abortions.
The regulations ban women from taking the most common abortion-inducing drug—RU-486—after the seventh week of pregnancy instead of the ninth. They also require that the drug be administered only at the FDA-approved dosage and that both doses be taken at a clinic.
Planned Parenthood Arizona has sued to stop the rules.
The panel granted the stay one day after the rules took effect in April. A federal judge in Tucson had declined to block them temporarily.
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