Arizona's 'abortion reversal' law put on hold

• The law requires abortion providers to tell patients it's possible to reverse a medication abortion
• Three Arizona doctors and Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law
• The two sides have agreed to delay implementation of the law until courts rule on the issue

Arizona's controversial new abortion law will not go into effect on July 3 as scheduled.

The state and a group of medical professionals that sued Arizona over the law have agreed to delay its implementation until federal courts have a chance to rule on the matter.

The law, the first of its kind in the nation, requires abortion providers to tell patients that it is possible to reverse a medication abortion. Three Arizona doctors and Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month challenging the law and asking the court to stop it from going into effect.

A hearing had been scheduled for June 23, but a key state witness wasn't available, according to court documents. The two sides agreed to delay the effective date and asked the court for a three-day hearing in October.

About half of all abortions in Arizona are done using medication instead of surgical procedures. Medication abortions are done very early in a pregnancy. They typically involve a pill, mifepristone, which interferes with the hormone progesterone, and a second pill, misoprostol, which expels the fetus.

In some instances, women who have taken the first pill and changed their minds were given a high dose of progesterone and continued with their pregnancies. Supporters of the reversal protocol claim a 60 percent success rate.

Opponents of the law, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, argue there is no "credible, medically accepted evidence" that a medication abortion can be reversed. They say it would compel physicians to lie to women.

The lawsuit alleges the law violates doctors' First Amendment rights because it forces them to convey "a state-mandated message that is not medically or scientifically supported." It alleges the law violates patients' Fourteenth Amendment rights because they are getting "false, misleading and/or irrelevant information."