Court panel upholds ruling on Ohio abortion law

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A federal appeals panel has upheld a lower court's ruling that an Ohio law limiting the distribution of an abortion pill does not violate a woman's right to choose.

The Tuesday opinion from the 6th U.S. District Court of Appeals panel stems from a law signed in 2004 by then-Gov. Bob Taft.

The legislation banned the use of RU-486, or mifepristone, to induce abortion unless prescribed by a doctor in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

Three Planned Parenthoods and some private practitioners sued over the law, arguing that it infringed on a woman's right to choose and is constitutionally vague.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott ruled against the abortion providers and said the law didn't create a substantial obstacle to a woman's right to choose.