BISMARCK, N.D., July 22 (UPI) -- A U.S. judge in North Dakota Monday blocked that state's ban on early abortions, the earliest ban in the nation.
The state ban prohibited abortions when the heartbeat of a fetus could be detected, usually about six weeks.
In Bismarck, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland called North Dakota's ban "clearly unconstitutional," and issued a temporary injunction against its implementation, USA Today reported.
"The United States Supreme Court has unequivocally said that no state may deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at a point prior to viability," Hovland said in his 22-page opinion. "North Dakota House Bill 1456 is clearly unconstitutional under an unbroken stream of United States Supreme Court authority. The State [North Dakota] has extended an invitation to an expensive court battle over a law restricting abortions that is a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantees afforded to all women."
Hovland ruled the age of viability of a fetus can vary, but banning an abortion when a heartbeat is detected clearly bans abortions before viability, the newspaper said.
The law was to take effect Aug. 1, but the injunction bars the restrictions from taking effect while courts consider its merits, the Washington newspaper The Hill said.
