CHICAGO — An appeals court has upheld a lower-court decision to block part of a 2017 Indiana law that would make it tougher for underage girls to get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge.

A 2-1 ruling posted Tuesday by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals leaves a 2018 preliminary injunction in place.

Indiana generally bars abortions for minors living at home without their parents’ consent. But a girl can seek an exception if a court deems her mature enough or finds an abortion is in her best interest.

The central dispute is over a provision in the 2017 law requiring parents be given notice of the planned abortion even if their daughter doesn’t need their consent. Tuesday’s ruling says that notification requirement puts an “undue burden” on the minor and so runs afoul of Supreme Court precedent.

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has sided with critics of an Indiana law who argue it would allow officials to illegally remove voters from the state’s election rolls.

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tuesday a federal judge’s ruling last year blocking the Indiana law from taking effect.

That law would’ve allowed local election authorities to immediately purge voter registrations if the program called Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck found a duplicate registration in another state for that person.

Common Cause Indiana maintained the Crosscheck system started by former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was unreliable.

The ruling says Indiana law wrongly allowed registration purges without voter notification.

The court also faulted the law for equating voting in two states with being registered to vote in multiple states.

INDIANAPOLIS — Prosecutors want to try a 15-year-old Indianapolis boy as an adult in last week’s fatal shootings of two teenage siblings.

The boy appeared in juvenile court Tuesday after Marion County prosecutors filed a delinquency petition charging him with two counts of murder and firearm charges.

Prosecutors asked during Tuesday’s hearing that the juvenile court waive its jurisdiction to allow the boy to be tried as an adult in the Aug. 23 killings of 16-year-old Nicholas Nelson and his 15-year-old sister, Ashlynn Nelson.

A hearing to determine whether the teen will be waived into adult court is scheduled for Sept. 24.

The Indianapolis Star reports that the teen will remain in a juvenile detention center until that hearing.

The boy was arrested Monday in connection with the killings.

FORT WAYNE — A pedestrian bridge that will link two college campuses in Fort Wayne is still undergoing safety testing more than a year after its projected opening date.

The bridge was initially set to open in August 2018 to connect Purdue University Fort Wayne and Ivy Tech Community College over a busy roadway, but its opening was delayed after testing of its cables produced inconsistent readings.

A pier was subsequently added to boost the span’s ability to carry extreme loads during adverse conditions, such as high winds.

Nichole Thomas is a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Transportation.

She tells The Journal Gazette the bridge “has a lot of eyes on it” as testing continues on the altered design.

Officials estimate about 1,000 students will use the span daily once it opens.

LAFAYETTE — An Indiana woman who successfully argued she had ineffective legal counsel at her murder trial for the 2001 slaying of her boyfriend during a sex game has been released.

The Journal & Courier reports Anastazia Schmid, 45, who spent more than 18 years behind bars, was released Tuesday after pleading guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter.

She apologized, was effectively sentenced to time-served and will be on parole.

Jurors convicted Schmid of killing her boyfriend and business partner, Tony Heathcote, in Lafayette.

He was stabbed 39 times.

She was serving a 50-year prison sentence.

A federal judge in May ordered Schmid’s murder conviction vacated.

He wrote in his ruling that testimony that she was “psychotic” and “heavily medicated” raised questions about her competence, but her lawyer didn’t seek a competency hearing.

— Associated Press