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NEW YORK, Oct 30, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Human Rights Watch said Monday laws in some U.S. states and their abortion regulations affect women's right to have a safe and legal abortion.
"The mounting obstacles to abortion services include in some states a legal requirement to provide medically inaccurate information as part of obligatory pre-abortion counseling," said the global rights group.
It said some state regulations compel doctors and nurses to say that abortion can lead to breast cancer and that fetuses feel pain throughout the pregnancy, adding both claims are scientifically unfounded.
"There is a direct assault on women's right to safe abortion through deliberate misinformation," said Marianne Mollmann with Human Rights Watch's women's rights division.
The group said some of the laws and regulations may contravene U.S. Supreme Court rulings, which have consistently held that states cannot place an "undue" regulatory burden on a woman or girl seeking to terminate her pregnancy.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
