Yesterday, in a move that will raise the hopes of pro-choice folks in North Carolina, a federal judge ruled that Texas’ "sonogram law" violates the First Amendment. Judge Sam Sparks blocked enforcement of some key provisions of the statute, and granted class-action status to a lawsuit by the Center for Reproductive Rights, thereby granting an injunction until the disputed provisions are resolved. The Texas law is very similar to one passed by the N.C. General Assembly over Gov. Perdue’s veto. Several groups, including Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU, plan to challenge the N.C. law in court.

Like N.C.’s Women’s Right To Know Act (or as we call it, the Women Who Need An Abortion Don’t Have Enough Problems Already Act), the Texas law requires that a doctor perform an ultrasound on any woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy, and explain to her the age, size, position and physical features of the fetus, as well as the sound of the fetal heartbeat. Texas’ law is even more intrusive — literally so — than N.C.’s law, in that it mandates a transvaginal ultrasound, rather than the usual “gel on the belly” type. The method of administering the ultrasound was not part of Judge Sparks’ ruling, however. He said that the Texas law violates the First Amendment rights of doctors and patients, and “compels physicians to advance an ideological agenda with which they may not agree, regardless of any medical necessity, and irrespective of whether the pregnant women wish to listen.” Sparks said doctors cannot be penalized if they do not adhere to the Texas law, since it is unconstitutional.

In North Carolina, pregnant women seeking an abortion must also be directed to a website which must declare that “The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique living human being." The problem is that those statements are theological/philosophical theories, not provable scientific facts; In other words, if you're a woman who has chosen to have an abortion in North Carolina, you will be legally bound to have the religious right's views spoon-fed to you whether you want to hear them or not.

Similar bills have been introduced and passed in other state legislatures this year, evidence of how fully the new, Tea Party-heavy legislatures are leaning on the far-right American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its “model legislations,” as we pointed out two weeks ago. The Texas decision by a federal judge will by no means be the final word on either state’s “sonogram laws,” but it can’t be anything but a hopeful development for North Carolinians who believe in women’s reproductive freedom. Here is a video of some of the arguments made against the N.C. abortion law in the General Assembly.