The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday denied certiorari [order list, PDF] in Walker-McGill v. Stuart [docket; cert. petition, PDF], letting stand a decision blocking North Carolina’s abortion ultrasound requirement. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] in December affirmed [JURIST report] a lower court decision that the Woman’s Right to Know Act [text, PDF], which required physicians to display and describe ultrasound images to women seeking abortions, is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment [text]. The state, which passed the law over a veto by then-governor Beverly Perdue, appealed to the US Supreme Court. The court declined to hear the appeal Monday, meaning the law will not be enforced. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented without comment.

Monday’s denial comes in the wake of a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] upholding [JURIST report] some of the strictest parts of a Texas abortion law, which could cause the majority of the state’s abortion clinics to close, leaving only seven open. The decision allows the state to require abortion clinics to satisfy hospital-level operating standards, which include minimum room size and staffing levels. Unless the Supreme Court blocks the decision, Texas could begin to enforce the restrictions in roughly two weeks.