Federal judge will not block Arizona rules on use of abortion drugs

By Paul Ingram TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday rejected a request by Planned Parenthood and a private women’s health clinic to block new Arizona regulations that would limit the use of abortion-inducing drugs. The regulations, which go into effect on Tuesday, would require any medicine used to induce an abortion to be administered strictly according to protocols issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and instructions on the label. The FDA has approved RU-486, the so-called “abortion pill,” for use within seven weeks’ gestation. Doctors who have prescribed it later than that have made an off-label use which is not allowed under Arizona’s law.