Abortion Activists Sue to Block Law

Abortion-rights activists sued the state of Mississippi to block the enforcement of a tough new law that the plaintiffs claim seeks to make abortion inaccessible. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Jackson, Miss., by the American Civil Liberties Union, contends that the law violates a woman’s right to an abortion by imposing dozens of prohibitive regulations that depart from accepted medical standards. Under the new measure, physicians who advertise abortion services or perform more than 10 abortions a month must comply with operating rules ordinarily reserved for small-scale hospitals. Physicians who fail to comply could face criminal charges and fines and risk losing their licenses.