Atlanta, Ga., Aug 23, 2018 / 16:09 pm
An injunction blocking the enforcement of an Alabama law that would have banned a second-trimester abortion procedure was upheld by a federal appeals court on Wednesday.
The 2016 law in question would have criminalized dilation and evacuation abortions (D&Es), dubbed "dismemberment abortions" by the state Alabama, which are the most common type of abortion performed in the second trimester.
Dilation and evacuation abortions are only used by two abortion clinics in the state, West Alabama Women's Center and Alabama Women's Center, which challenged the law with representation from the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a 3-0 decision Aug. 22, the judges of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found the law to be unconstitutional. The law was similarly blocked last October by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who said it was unconstitutional because it would have effectively banned abortion in the state after the first trimester.