User:VH4241/be bold

In 2015, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision to strike down the admitting privileges requirement of Act 37, passed in 2013. Admitting privileges require physicians providing abortion to obtain the right to admit patients at local hospitals - although, federal law dictates that no hospital can deny a patient admittance. Wisconsin already had a transfer agreement requirement established, which mandates that all facilities where abortion is performed to have an agreement with a local hospital for the transfer of patients. Most in public health and clinical practice understand admitting privilege requirements - adopted by nine states, including Wisconsin - as nonessential, and not grounded in evidence-based practice. Further, as argued during the court proceedings, the law would lead to diminished access to abortion within the state, particularly as the law was to go into effect two days after its passage.

After a District Court ordered an immediate temporary injunction, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court granted a hearing of the case. The state's primary argument in defense of the admitting privileges requirement centers on women's health. Specifically, if complications arise, this requirement presumes a continuity of care for the patient. The court's ruling, however, determined that the remarkably low rates of complications associated with abortion, and the state's failure to impose similar requirements on physicians providing riskier procedures rendered these claims moot. Following the 7th U.S. Circuit Court's ruling, the state of Wisconsin petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the case; the Supreme Court chose not to hear the case, leaving the 7th Circuit Court's ruling in place.