Planned Parenthood Drops Lawsuit Against Arizona Abortion Restrictions

photo credit: American Life League / Flickr

On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood dropped its lawsuit challenging several pro-life laws in Arizona. The challenged restrictions included a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, a ban against non-doctors carrying out abortions, and laws against using telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills.

In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood Arizona claimed that these pro-life laws caused them to complete 40% fewer abortions since 2011. Further, Planned Parenthood argued that they contributed to the closure of four Arizona abortion clinics.

Arizona's 24-hour waiting period came into effect in 2009. Parts of that law were temporarily blocked by courts until 2011, but the provisions were ultimately upheld.

Planned Parenthood's 2019 lawsuit was attempting to argue that the combination of Arizona's pro-life laws, rather than any individual one, created an "undue burden" on a woman's ability to choose abortion.

Planned Parenthood provided no explanation for the sudden dismissal. The abortion giant may have internally considered how Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts's concurring opinion in June Medical Services, L.L.C. v. Russo would affect their case, or it may have dropped the lawsuit in response to Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

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