A federal judge struck down part of a Texas law limiting a second trimester abortion procedure Wednesday, and said the regulation placed an “undue burden” on women.
The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in July on behalf of women’s health providers in the state, and were successful in helping argue the merits of the procedure, Reuters reports.
The procedure is known as “dilation and evacuation.” It involves using surgical instruments to scrape the wall of the mother’s uterus to remove the fetus and placenta.
Complications from the procedure can include infection and heavy bleeding along with cervical incompetence, that can increase the risk of miscarriage with future pregnancies.
With Judge Lee Yeakel’s ruling, clinics can continue to use the procedure without first having to end the fetus’ life. The state argued against using the procedure on a live fetus because it was inhumane.
The law limiting the procedure was signed by Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, earlier this year, and was set to take effect on Sept. 1st.
“The act is an inappropriate use of the state’s regulatory power over the medical profession to bar certain medical procedures,” Yeakel wrote in his decision.
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