Voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, defeat measure to limit abortions

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

Voters in Albuquerque defeated a proposal on Tuesday that would have outlawed most late-term abortions in New Mexico's largest city in the first test of such a measure on a municipal ballot in the United States.

The measure, which would have barred doctors within city limits from performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, unless a mother's life was in danger, was rejected 55 percent to 45 percent.

Abortion rights advocates hailed the outcome as a victory against out-of-state anti-abortion activists seen as spear-heading an initiative.

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Supreme Court lets Texas abortion law stay for now

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

A third of Texas' abortion clinics will stay closed after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in an ongoing legal dispute over a tough new law that Planned Parenthood claims unconstitutionally restricts women's rights.

The Supreme Court Won't Block Texas's Abortion Law The Atlantic Wire Federal appeals court reinstates abortion restrictions in Texas Reuters Supreme Court Lets Texas Abortion Law Stay CBS Dallas Fort Worth (RSS) Court reinstates most Texas' abortion restrictions Associated Press Planned Parenthood asks high court's help in Texas Associated Press

At least 12 Texas abortion clinics have been closed since October, after a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital to take effect.

No more than 20 clinics were able to meet the new standard, and some women must travel hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion. All of the facilities that remain open are in metropolitan areas, with none in the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico.

The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday isn't the final say on the restriction. But it means that the law will remain in effect while Planned Parenthood's lawsuit challenging it continues. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals plans to have a hearing in January on the lawsuit.

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