Today the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals announced they will hold an en banc hearing on South Dakota’s “informed consent” law that requires a doctor to tell a woman who is seeking an abortion that she faces an “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide.” This comes after a three judge panel of the court struck down this requirement in September, finding there is no reliable medical evidence for a link between abortion and an increase in mental health problems.
“The scientific research is on our side,” said Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS). “We are confident that the en banc court, after reviewing the merits of this issue, will uphold two prior decisions which held that the weight of reliable evidence says abortion does not subject women to an increased risk of suicide.”
The South Dakota law – H.B. 1166, which was enacted in 2005 and challenged in court by Planned Parenthood – is unconstitutional and interferes with a woman’s relationship with her doctor by requiring the doctor to repeat a state-government issued script that is not medically accurate.
“This law allows the state to come between a woman and her doctor,” Stoesz continued. “Voters in South Dakota have twice said at the polls that they do not want politicians interfering with these decisions, and we will continue to honor and defend their wishes.”
The en banc hearing is scheduled for January 9th, 2012.
###
Contact: Jen Aulwes, 651.755.9557
