Federal Judge Strikes Down Portions of Texas' Abortion Notification Law

A federal judge in Austin has issued a preliminary injunction partially blocking enforcement of HB 15, a Texas law that required physicians performing abortions to also perform a sonogram prior to the abortion, present the sonogram images to the pregnant woman, describe what the sonogram depicts and make the fetus' heartbeat audible to the woman. The judge found that portions of the statute were unconstitutionally vague, and also that the law compelled speech on the part of both the physician and the patient in violation of the First Amendment. Federal Judge Strikes Down Portions of Texas' Abortion Notification Law