You don’t see this every day.
A federal judge has taken back his own ruling.
As reported by The Washington Post, on May 6th, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson issued a landmark ruling: Virginia’s “Physicians-Only Law” mandating that only doctors perform first-trimester abortions was “unduly burdensome” and subsequently unconstitutional.
Therefore, early-term abortions could be performed by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and even trained midwives.
But Tuesday, Henry rescinded his ruling, asserting that the issue should be determined in an upcoming trial.
He explained:
“On further review, the Court is of the opinion that summary judgment was improvidently awarded.”
As noted by The NewAmerican:
[M]edication-induced abortions continue to pose health risks, including hemorrhaging, infection/sepsis, incomplete abortions, uterine rupture, and possibly death, and the complications are magnified the further along a woman is in her pregnancy, especially for an incomplete abortion.
Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation cheered the latest decision on the organization’s website:
“We’re thrilled that Judge Hudson took this extraordinary step to reverse his earlier decision that jeopardizes women’s health.”
National Review was jazzed, too:
Kudos to Judge Hudson for having the humility to recognize his error and to correct it.
Jenny Ma of the Center for Reproductive Rights — which, it seems to me, should be called the Center for Non-Reproductive Rights — said Henry’s change of mind really stinks:
“There is overwhelming evidence that medical professionals other than physicians can safely and effectively provide abortion care.”
The issue’s still up for examination, and a decision’s set to be finalized during the May 20th trial, which’ll hear both sides of the argument.
Judge Henry — who ruled 9 years ago that Obamacare’s individual mandate was unconstitutional — was appointed by George W. Bush.
Henry was named the Worst Person in the World by Keith Olbermann (here) — see the video below.
-ALEX
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