[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website] has refused [opinion text, PDF] to grant an injunction to halt a new Oklahoma law [text, PDF] that requires parental notification at least 48 hours in advance of an abortion for a minor while Nova Health Systems [corporate website], the parent group of Tulsa's Reproductive Services clinic [clinic website], challenges the law in court. Nova Health brought the lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma shortly after Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry [official website] signed the bill in May, arguing that the new law presents problems because it fails to establish deadlines on how quickly a court must approve a judicial bypass request, which is reserved for cases of abuse but is often used to avoid the parental notification requirement. The three-judge appeals panel affirmed a district court decision to reject the injunction, ruling that the law "satisfies the Supreme Court's requirement for an expeditious decision on a judicial bypass petition" and that "Nova has not shown a 'substantial likelihood of success on the merits' sufficient to obtain a preliminary injunction."

The bill also requires that women considering an abortion be told that the fetus will likely suffer intense pain after twenty weeks. AP has more. LifeNews.com has additional coverage.