Planned Parenthood of Arizona v. William Humble

Plaintiffs Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc., Dr. William Richardson, and Tucson Women’s Center appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs seek to enjoin enforcement of an Arizona statute, Ariz.Rev. Stat. § 36-449.03(E)(6), and its implementing regulation, Ariz. Admin. Code § R9-10-1508(G), which restrict the manner in which certain medications may be used to perform abortions. The district court denied the preliminary injunction because it found that plaintiffs had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. We reverse.

I. Background .

“Before 2000, most first-trimester abortions were surgical, performed by a procedure commonly known as vacuum aspiration or suction curettage.” Planned Parenthood Sw. Ohio Region v. DeWine, 696 F.3d 490, 494 (6th Cir.2012). In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) first approved the use of medications to perform abortions. Id.

A. Medication Abortion Regimens

The far-and-away most common method of medication abortion employs a combination of two prescription drugs, mifepri-stone (sometimes known as RU-486) and misoprostol. Mifepristone ends pregnancy by blocking the hormone…