By Lisa Needham |
A federal judge in Oregon just stopped the Trump administration from implementing its harmful rule restricting what reproductive health information doctors can provide to their patients.
For the second time in just a week, a federal judge has issued a nationwide injunction against Trump’s new “gag rule” — so named because it seeks to block doctors from being fully able to speak with their patients about reproductive health options.
On Monday, Judge Michael McShane of Oregon blocked the gag rule from going into effect nationwide. This follows close on the heels of a similar ruling from Judge Stanley Bastian, a federal judge in Washington State, who also granted a preliminary injunction request in a lawsuit jointly brought by the state and reproductive rights groups.
Initially, it was unclear if McShane was going to grant a nationwide injunction or only enjoin the rule in the 20 states that had brought the lawsuit. However, his ruling left no doubt as to why he felt a nationwide injunction was necessary.
The rule that the Trump administration had proposed would have drastically punished medical professionals who perform abortions, stripping them of federal funds. Worse, it would have punished medical professionals simply for even discussing the full range of reproductive health options with their patients.
McShane found this outrageous, and rightly so. His ruling called out the Trump administration for inserting the government between a patient and their health care professionals:
Comments are closed.