The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments today in a case dealing with how much information women receive before having an abortion.
Under the statute, doctors must tell women that abortion terminates a life and that the procedure may have other negative consequences. Planned Parenthood challenged a 2005 South Dakota statute claiming it's a violation of abortionists' right to free speech.
The court imposed a preliminary injunction in 2005 to prevent the state from enforcing the law.
Leslee Unruh, founder of the Alpha Center, a pregnancy-resource center, said abortion-minded women want to be fully informed.
“This statute simply requires that doctors tell women that abortion terminates the life of a living human being,” she said, "that even during pregnancy, they have a constitutionally protected relationship with the newly conceived human being. And that abortion may cause depression and psychological distress."
Harold Cassidy, an attorney for the defendants, said women have repeatedly complained that Planned Parenthood fails to provide meaningful information about abortion.
“The statute in question attempts to protect certain constitutional rights of the pregnant mothers against the conflicts and negligence of abortion doctors,” he said.
The case is Planned Parenthood v. Rounds, Alpha Center, Care Net Pregnancy et al.
