The high court on Monday turned down an appeal from abortion clinics in Indiana claiming the in-person counseling sessions would force some women to forgo abortions or to risk their health by postponing the procedure far into pregnancy.

"This is an outrageous law that leaves many women without access to abortions, or certainly places a heavy burden, an undue burden, on a woman's right to choose," said Kate Michelman, president of the pro-abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America.

But Mike Fichter, executive director of Indiana Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, said, "For the first time abortion ...