August 18, 2015 5:52 PM

Federal judge rebukes state for potential interference in El Paso abortion clinic reopening

Judge Yeakel threatened to hold the state in contempt of court if it attempted to impede the reopening of the abortion clinic

Federal Judge Lee Yeakel has rebuffed the state’s motion to possibly stop the reopening of the Reproductive Service’s abortion clinic in El Paso.

Yeakel threatened to hold the state in contempt of court if it attempted to impede the reopening of the abortion clinic, which lost its lease in an earlier court battle over the implementation of House Bill 2. Attorney Jan Soifer, who represented Reproductive Services, called the state’s legal maneuvering “pretty ridiculous.”

Reproductive Services closed its doors in 2014 when a local hospital refused to grant its doctor admitting privileges, a new requirement under House Bill 2. An injunction by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June has put that requirement on hold, as well as a requirement to upgrade clinics to ambulatory surgical centers.

By Kimberly Reeves