Supreme Court rejects challenge to Kentucky abortion law requiring ultrasounds

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case challenging a Kentucky abortion law from 2017 that requires people seeking the procedure to first undergo an ultrasound where a technician is required to provide a detailed description of what they see. The court rejected the case, without comment or dissent, leaving the law in place.

A similar law exists in Louisiana where CBS News spent a week on the ground reporting on the state of abortion access. At the Hope Clinic in Shreveport, one of the state's last three abortion providers, the clinic administrator said it was one of the more emotionally taxing regulations they're required to follow, and patients often cover their ears or turn their head away so as not to see.

Planned Parenthood said in a statement that the Supreme Court "continued to chip away at abortion rights" by allowing the law to take effect.

"This is the court's latest action taken against abortion, signaling a troubling road ahead for the fight to preserve abortion access across the country now that Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch have joined the bench and just months before oral arguments in a Louisiana abortion case," the statement said.

Jeanne Mancini, the president of March for Life, celebrated the court's decision on Monday. "Women facing an unexpected pregnancy deserve to have as much medically and technically accurate information as possible when they are making what could be the most important decision of their life," the statement said.

Next March, the Supreme Court will devote an entire day to another Louisiana abortion law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. It will be the first time the high court will look at abortion regulations since Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh flipped the Supreme Court conservative.