Louisiana attorneys appeal judge's ruling on abortion restrictions
(Reuters) - The state of Louisiana on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's decision to block a 2014 law that imposed tough restrictions on Louisiana abortion providers and threatened to close four of the state's five clinics.
The law requires physicians who perform the procedure to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of the place where the abortion is performed.
In an order filed Wednesday, U.S. Judge John deGravelles finalized his January ruling granting a preliminary injunction sought by abortion providers who argued the law violated women's rights to obtain an abortion.
"Without an injunction, Louisiana women will suffer significantly reduced access to constitutionally protected abortion services, which will likely have serious health consequences," he wrote in the 112-page January opinion.
The state responded to Wednesday's order by immediately appealing the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court documents.
The appeal came as no surprise, as Louisiana is one of several conservative states across the country battling challenges to new laws restricting access to the procedure.
Due to those legal battles, the restrictions had not gone into effect in Louisiana, one of 10 states that has adopted admitting privilege restrictions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented abortion providers in the case.
Proponents see such regulations as protecting women, while critics call them medically unnecessary and intended to force clinics to close.
In five other states, courts also have blocked similar abortion restrictions, the reproductive rights group said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on the issue this year in a challenge to a 2013 Texas law that imposed similar restrictions on abortion providers, prompting the closure of about half of the state's 40 licensed abortion facilities.
(Reporting by Karen Brooks in Fort Worth, Texas; Editing by Tom Brown)
