A federal judge approved a settlement Thursday that keeps the state from restricting abortions to women less than 18 weeks pregnant. U.S. District Judge John Nordberg agreed to the settlement between Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan and the American Civil Liberties Union. ``The court finds the proposed consent decree lawful, fair, reasonable and adequate,'' the judge wrote in the 13-page opinion. Anti-abortion groups opposed the settlement, calling it ``unconscionable and unconstitutional.'' Ragsdale vs. Turnock was settled Nov. 24, just days before the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the case. It was one of several that anti-abortion groups had hoped would be used as a test case for the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The settlement permits the state to regulate abortion clinics without removing the availability of abortions to women who are less than 18 weeks pregnant. Under the agreement, access to abortions cannot be restricted by substantially increasing the cost of the procedure or reducing the number of clinics. The lawsuit was brought by Rockford physician Richard Ragsdale, who objected to regulations requiring abortion clinics to be equipped and staffed like small hospitals. He said the regulation was a veiled attempt to restrict access to abortions. One of the requirements deleted from the settlement mandated that patients receive counseling about birth control and adoption and that counselors be people who wouldn't profit from abortions. The settlement also eliminated a requirement that all abortion clinics go through a public hearing process and obtain a ``certificate of need'' from the state verifying that they do not duplicate similar services in their areas.
