U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles will hear arguments in a lawsuit against the 2011 Women’s Right To Know Act Friday. Opponents of the law are challenging the constitutionality of provisions mandating physicians perform an ultrasound four hours before providing an abortion, explain the images on the screen in detail, and offer the patient the opportunity to listen to the fetal heart tone. The law allows the patient to “avert her eyes” from the screen or “refuse to hear” the doctor’s explanation.

Opponents argue that these requirements violate the freedom of speech of healthcare providers. In 2011, Judge Eagles issued a preliminary injunction preventing the ultrasound sections of the law from taking effect.

Via The News & Observer:

There are no exceptions provided for women who have been victims of rape; a woman whose doctor determines that the woman would suffer serious, long-lasting health problems if she carried the pregnancy to term; or a woman whose doctor determines that the fetus has severe abnormalities that would cause fetal death or extreme disability. The ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on Sept. 29, 2011, challenging the law’s constitutionality.

News & Observer – Case involving NC’s abortion ultrasounds to be heard in Greensboro

RH Reality Check on the possibility of a permanent injunction:

Should Judge Eagles issue a permanent injunction, lawyers for the State of North Carolina would almost certainly appeal the decision, sending the matter to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for consideration. In 2012, Judge Edith Jones and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Texas’ forced ultrasound law, while the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked that state’s ultrasound law. The conflicting opinions, along with hints from the Roberts Courtthat it is interested in these issue, makes it all but certain the Supreme Court will step in within the next two years.

RH Reality Check – Federal Court Hears Arguments in Legal Challenge to North Carolina Ultrasound Law

The law currently requires women seeking abortions to undergo a 24-hour waiting period after being informed in detail about the procedure and possible alternatives.

Read the full text of the Women’s Right To Know Act here.