Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper.
The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday.
A lawsuit by a physician and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic claims that sections in the restrictions were so vague and confusing that doctors feared unintentionally breaking the law, affecting their ability to care for women seeking abortions.