Access-To-Clinics Law Struck Down

A judge struck down a federal law Thursday that protects access to abortion clinics, contradicting previous rulings and setting up a possible showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a ruling stemming from a September protest at a Milwaukee clinic, U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa said the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act was unconstitutional.

Seven other federal judges and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., have upheld the law, limiting the importance of Randa’s order.

Still, anti-abortion protesters said the ruling was important.

“What’s significant is that somebody would contradict a federal judge,” said Monica Miller, director of Citizens for Life in Milwaukee.

“Now we have a real issue that I think the U.S. Supreme Court would be more interested in looking at,” she said.

Roger Evans, director of litigation for the Planned Parenthood Federation in New York, said Randa’s ruling was “just a strange blip on the screen,” and his organization is confident it will be overturned on appeal.