Changes to abortion provision in Arizona go unchallenged

Summary of story from AZFamily, September 12, 2011

Planned Parenthood is backing away from challenging new rules surrounding abortions — rules state government made law back in 2009.

“They knew what they were doing,” said Planned Parenthood Arizona Director Bryan Howard. “They were imposing barriers and that’s what they wanted to do.”

Howard announced on Monday that the group will not ask the Arizona Supreme Court to reconsider changes made to how they provide abortions — at least for now.

Those changes as of Monday mean health care professionals can deny birth control or emergency contraceptives based on their personal beliefs.

Planned Parenthood says it is not giving up on challenging these new rules altogether.

The director says once the economy and the political atmosphere steadies a bit, the organization will again look to challenge them in the Arizona State Supreme Court.