Of course, another question is whether the court could end up at a 4-4 tie because of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
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We are challenging two of the law’s most onerous restrictions: one that requires clinics to spend millions to become mini-hospitals, and another that forces doctors to acquire admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
Convicted Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell provided “mere access” to abortion in a clinic where a woman died because a stretcher could not fit through the hallways, where unsterilized instruments spread infections, and where parts of unborn babies were stored in jars and cat food cans like macabre trophies. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. And a number of other states, including Alabama, Louisiana and MS, have enacted laws similar to the Texas statute being challenged in the Supreme Court. This would throw the pro-life movement even further on the defensive, and may discourage some states from enforcing their laws to curb abortion access. However, he has allowed other abortion restrictions to stand.
With the court now split evenly between liberals and conservatives, all eyes are on Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose swing vote on this issue that has long roiled United States politics could determine the availability of abortion services nationwide.
Backers of the law, HB2, say it is meant to support women’s health, particularly if there are any complications after an abortion. During Wednesday’s arguments, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor brought up that other medical procedures, like liposuction and colonoscopy, have more documented cases of complication than abortions, but providers of those procedures do not have to comply with ambulatory care center rules.
The law would require clinics to be equipped and operated under the strict rules that govern surgical centers. As of last November, 10 states had adopted admitting privileges requirements, but courts blocked enforcement in six of those, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Such an outcome would allow Texas to put the regulations into full effect.
Befitting the first abortion argument since November 2006, crowds of sign-toting demonstrators outside spilled beyond the sidewalk that fronts the Supreme Court, onto the street that separates it from the Capitol.
Busby, one of many speakers favoring abortion rights, called for the Supreme Court to strike down the Texas law.
Ginsburg was incensed by an assertion in Kennedy’s majority opinion that said it was “self-evident” that women who had abortions through such a method could come to regret their choice and, consequently, suffer from “severe depression and loss of esteem”. However, Erica Barnett, communications director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, said lawmakers have introduced more legislation than usual this session to restrict abortions, such as a proposal that would notify parents if their daughter is having an abortion, which was defeated by a narrow margin. The Court’s decision, expected this summer, will dictate how those advocating for and against legal abortion try to convince the public, the politicians, and the courts that they are on the right side of the conflict.
Keller suggested the true number would be lower because some live close to New Mexico – and can access clinics across the state border.
Instead, what this law achieves – and, of course, its true intention – is furthering an extreme agenda to end abortion and limit a woman’s ability to make decisions about her body and her future.
The appellate court did carve out an exception from most of the hospital-like standards for the relatively remote Whole Woman’s Health clinic in McAllen, and granted one of the McAllen clinic’s doctors relief from the admitting privileges requirement.
It was the first time the court had ever agreed that doctors could not use a specific abortion method and the first time the justices ratified a restriction that did not include an exception for the health of a woman.
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Beyond Texas, that would affect 13 other states that have enacted similar laws.
