A federal judge on Wednesday ruled in favor of the Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging the state’s total abortion ban, clearing the way for hospitals to provide the service in an emergency medical situation.
Much of the law will still go into effect Thursday, but U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said the state cannot prosecute anyone who is performing an abortion in an emergency medical situation. Abortions in those cases appear to fall under a federal health care law requiring Medicare-funded hospitals to provide “stabilizing treatment” to patients in cases where their health is in serious jeopardy.
