Judge Rules Oklahoma Ultrasound Requirement Unconstitutional

An Oklahoma law to require women seeking abortion to have an ultrasound and listen to the doctor's description of the ultrasound was struck down as unconstitutional yesterday, on technical grounds.  Judge Vicki Robertson ruled that the law "violated constitutional requirements that legislative measures deal only with one subject," the New York Times reports.

The decision does not address the constitutionality of requiring ultrasounds themselves.  The Los Angeles Times explains,

Her ruling also overturned provisions in the law that allowed doctors and other healthcare providers to refuse to take part in an abortion for moral or religious reasons, required certain signs to be placed in clinics where abortions are performed, and prohibited wrongful-life lawsuits arguing that a disabled child would have been better off aborted.

State Senator Todd Lamb, the law's principal author, will fight the ruling, the New York Times adds:

Lamb said he would he would ask the attorney general to appeal the injunction and, if unsuccessful, would probably introduce a replacement measure next year.