UPDATE: Abortion Law Requiring Ultrasounds Put On Hold

Updated at 6:40 p.m Monday: A federal judge on Monday evening granted a temporary restraining order to block the law from taking effect. Judge William M. Conley put a 10-day hold on the law.

Original story posted Sunday:

While most of us were in the middle of a long Fourth of July weekend, Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed 18 bills into law, including legislation that requires a woman wanting an abortion to undergo an ultrasound.

The measure, which becomes law on Monday, also requires every doctor who performs an abortion at a clinic to have staff privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of that clinic, a move that opponents say will severely restrict women’s access to safe and legal abortions. Two of the state's four facilities that perform abortions could close, opponents say.

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union immediately filed a federal lawsuit on Friday to try to block the law from taking effect.

A press release from Walker's office said the bill "improves a woman's ability to make an informed choice that will protect her physical and mental health now and in the future."

However, opponents say the measure is just another move by state lawmakers to try to limit a woman's legal right to have an abortion.

“This law will drastically limit a woman’s ability to obtain a safe and legal abortion in Wisconsin by imposing burdensome and medically unnecessary requirements on doctors that provide this essential care,” ACLU of Wisconsin Legal Director Larry Dupuis said in a statement. “This law was rammed through the legislature in a matter of days and now, with a stroke of his pen, the governor has put the very health and well-being of Wisconsin women and families at immediate risk.”

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU say law would force Affiliated Medical Services in Milwaukee and Planned Parenthood’s health center in Appleton to shut down, and would force Planned Parenthood’s health center in Milwaukee to cut staff and severely curtail services.

Wisconsin Right to Life, however, praised Walker for signing the bill, known as "Sonya's Law" — named after a pregnant Milwaukee woman who was considering an abortion and decided against it after having an ultrasound and seeing her fetus. The bill was the pro-life group's main legislative priority this year.

"We thank Governor Walker for signing this important piece of legislation into law," Susan Armacost, the group's legislative director, said in a statement. "Sonya's Law will empower women to make truly informed decisions regarding how they will proceed with their pregnancies and will protect the lives of women who experience complications after their abortions."