Abortion clinics can continue to operate as if they were dental offices instead of outpatient surgery centers...
From "Federal Judges Bar Laws Mandating Health Standards for Abortion Clinics in Missouri" by Peter J. Smith, posted 8/29/07 at Lifesite.org
A Federal judge issued a restraining order on the state of Missouri Monday preventing it from requiring abortion facilities to adhere to strict medical standards, just days after another federal judge blocked a law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at the nearest hospital within 30 miles.
U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith granted the restraining order at the behest of abortion supporters who said the strict standards mandated by the law would adversely affect the Kansas City clinic, (Hmmm -- only if its standards are currently shoddy...) which provides medical-induced abortions, and the Columbia clinic, which would have to upgrade its ambulatory surgical center in compliance with the law. Smith set a hearing for September 10 to hear further evidence and arguments.
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughery issued a temporary restraining order on a law requiring abortionists to obtain clinical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles just a day after Gov. Matt Blunt signed it. The law also permits parents to sue those who "intentionally cause, aid or assist" their underage daughters obtaining abortions without their informed consent.
The law would have put an effective end to abortions in some parts of Missouri, where hospitals are not within the 30 mile radius mandated by the law.
Michelle Collins, an administrator at the Springfield Healthcare Center Inc told the Associated Press that she was "ecstatic" at the ruling and that "it will be business as usual."
A spokesman for Blunt said the Governor welcomed the chance to defend the recently suspended laws. Until then, federal judges have guaranteed that abortion clinics may operate under lower medical standards and perform major surgeries without the lifesaving benefits of nearby hospitals.
One must continually wonder what justification judges use to permit lower standards at abortion clinics? Abortion advocates always tell us they have womens' best interests at heart...
