From the AP -- A federal appeals court on Friday refused to delay a new Oklahoma law requiring that parents be notified at least 48 hours in advance before a minor can receive an abortion.
Nova Health Systems, the parent group of Tulsa’s Reproductive Services clinic, had sought an injunction preventing enforcement of the law while Nova pursued a legal challenge.
A three-judge panel of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request, saying Nova hadn’t shown it was likely to win the lawsuit.
Nova had filed a lawsuit in Tulsa, Okla., federal court challenging the law minutes after Gov. Brad Henry signed it on May 20. Nova argued the law was faulty because it did not establish procedures and deadlines for state courts to rule on minors’ attempts to bypass the parental-notification requirement...
...The appeals panel said the Oklahoma law’s requirement for quick judicial review of a minor’s request to bypass the law ‘‘likely complies with the Supreme Court’s mandate for ’sufficient expedition.’ ’’ Teresa Collett, who represented the state in arguments before the appeals court, said the Oklahoma law’s bypass provision was modeled after one in Minnesota that the U.S. Supreme Court has approved.
