North Carolina restrictions on abortion pills overuled [Video]

A federal judge has permanently blocked some efforts in North Carolina to restrict how abortion pills can be dispensed, saying they are unlawfully in conflict with the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But she allowed other state laws to remain in effect, granting only a partial victory to a doctor who sued.The injunction entered Monday by U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles in Greensboro gives permanence to her April 30 ruling that some of North Carolina’s regulations on medication abortion have been preempted by decisions of federal drug regulators that determined they were not needed.The order Monday means North Carolina cannot require that only doctors prescribe the pills, that the drugs be provided to the patient only in person, and that the patient schedule a follow-up appointment. It also prohibits state and local prosecutors, state health and medical officials and other defendants from enforcing such rules or penalizing …