Judge strikes down Oklahoma law restricting abortion drugs

The law, signed by Gov. Mary Fallin last year, prohibits off-label uses of abortion-inducing drugs by requiring doctors to administer them only in accordance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration protocols.

The group, Oklahoma Coalition For Reproductive Justice, challenged a restrictive Oklahoma statute which would have prevented off-label use of medical abortion drugs. The lawsuit alleges the regulation locations unconstitutional restrictions on non-surgical abortion within the earliest weeks of being pregnant.

A Florida law requiring women to wait 24 hours after a doctor visit to get an abortion was put on hold by a state judge there in July.

On Monday Parrish ruled the restrictions on abortion drugs violate state statutes barring the Legislature from enacting a “special law” substituting for a “general law”, according to an e-mailed statement by the Center for Reproductive Rights. She says the state’s argument wasn’t about a woman’s safety. It is prescribed along with a second drug, misoprostol.

“What this law was really about was interfering with the practice of medicine and making it more hard for women to access safe abortion services”, Katz said.

Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s office, said in an email that the office will appeal the decision.