Oklahoma City Archbishop
Paul S. Coakley called it "gravely disappointing" the U.S. Supreme
Court declined to consider a challenge to a ruling that overturned an
Oklahoma law requiring women who seek an abortion to get an ultrasound.
By declining to hear the appeal, the high court "declined to support a
law that would assist and affirm women as they face a serious moral
dilemma," the archbishop said in a statement.
The 2010 law was passed in
April that year and in May, a district court judge granted a temporary
restraining order against it.
The court issued a permanent injunction in
March 2012.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling
in December 2012.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt petitioned the
U.S. Supreme Court to review that ruling, arguing the state court had
become "too protective of abortion rights."
Using the state Supreme
Court's logic, he wrote, all abortion regulations would be ruled out "no
matter how medically sound or minimally burdensome of the right
recognized in Roe v. Wade," the 1973 decision, with its companion
ruling, Doe v. Bolton, that legalized abortion virtually on demand
across the United States.
In a statement of
Nov. 18, Archbishop Coakley said: "A woman who seeks an abortion is
often very vulnerable, and women who have had abortions are at increased
risk of anxiety, depression and substance abuse. We have a
responsibility to ensure that no one is deceived or exploited to advance
a particular agenda."