The Bismarck Tribune said that on Wednesday, a federal judge had overturned a North Dakota state law which bans abortions on the basis that a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The requirement means that it is considered unlawful to terminate a pregnancy if the woman is already into her sixth week at least. According to US District Judge Daniel Hovland, the ban itself is invalid and violates constitutional rights, and cannot withstand a constitutional challenge.
In his ruling, he wrote, "The United States Supreme Court has spoken and has unequivocally said no state may deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at a point prior to viability. The controversy over a woman's right to choose to have an abortion will never end. The issue is undoubtedly one of the most divisive of social issues. The United States Supreme Court will eventually weigh in on this emotionally-fraught issue but, until that occurs, this Court is obligated to uphold existing Supreme Court precedent."
The local paper said North Dakota is among several of the conservative states in the US which has introduced and passed abortion restrictions in the past few years. Womens' rights groups have called the "Heartbeat" abortion law the most restrictive in the nation. The state of Atlanta allows women to terminate their pregnancies at 12 weeks minimum, and yet has been overturned by another federal judge.
The state attorney general has expressed his offices intentions to appeal the decision made by Hovland.
Center for Reproductive Rights chief executive officer Nancy Northrup said about the ruling, "The court was correct to call this law exactly what it is: a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantees afforded to all women. But women should not be forced to go to court, year after year in state after state, to protect their constitutional rights. We hope today's decision, along with the long line of decisions striking down these attempts to choke off access to safe and legal abortion services in the U.S., sends a strong message to politicians across the country that our rights cannot be legislated away."
