Crisis pregnancy centers have joined anti-abortion groups that filed a motion to intervene in a court ruling blocking the implementation of a North Carolina law that would have forced doctors to show women an ultrasound and describe it to them before providing an abortion.
The Associated Press reports:
Some doctors, crisis pregnancy centers and women who say they’ve had abortions want to help defend a new North Carolina law that would set more ultrasound requirements before an abortion.
The potential defendants filed a motion Tuesday in Greensboro federal court with the help of legal groups opposed to abortion. They want to intervene in the case to present evidence on why the law should be enforced in its entirety.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles put implementation of the law on hold “until she can hear more arguments.” The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against the state in October alleging that “the new law violates the rights of health care providers and women seeking abortions.”
This week, anti-abortion groups Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and the Alliance Defense Fund have filed a motion to intervene in the ruling to defend the law.
Crisis pregnancy centers have been created to attract women facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy in order to convince them to keep the pregnancy. NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina recently released an undercover investigation into crisis pregnancy centers. The report said the centers were “a threat to public health.“
