On Friday, six abortion clinics filed a federal lawsuit challenging two Louisiana abortion laws, including one (SB 528) that requires women seeking abortions to receive ultrasound exams and another (HB 1453) that prevents doctors who perform elective abortions from obtaining medical malpractice insurance, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Both laws were overwhelmingly approved by the state Legislature last session, marking the latest development in an "annual ritual" lasting nearly two decades whereby lawmakers typically pass at least one law imposing abortion restrictions and abortion-rights supporters challenging it in court, according to the Times-Picayune.

Previously, Louisiana state law required ultrasounds for women seeking abortion services with pregnancies beyond 20 weeks' gestation. Under the new law, all women seeking abortion services must receive an ultrasound exam, and the ultrasound technician must offer women a chance to hear a description of the image, to receive a photograph of it and to view it on a video screen.

The suit argues that the ultrasound law is "unconstitutionally vague" because it does not clearly state whether the person performing the ultrasound must try to compel a woman to accept an envelope containing the ultrasound picture. In addition, the law could violate a patient's confidentiality by exposing private patient information to a third party, the suit states.

The suit also contends that the law banning medical malpractice coverage for doctors who perform abortions improperly treats abortion providers differently from other health professionals and denies them equal legal protection. According to the suit, the law is intended to deter doctors from performing abortions, which would impose "a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking abortions."

Attorney William Rittenberg and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the suit in federal court in Baton Rouge. The suit names state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, the state health secretary and people who serve on two medical boards charged with enforcing the laws as defendants.

Rittenberg said that no "state is close to Louisiana in the number of statutes that have tried to restrict Roe v. Wade," and he noted that he has filed similar suits every year since the 1990s. The attorney general's office and the health department have not received official copies of the suit and did not comment (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/7).

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