The corridors must be at least eight feet wide, to enable two trolleys to pass. The state’s remaining abortion providers say that they have never encountered a situation in which the width of a corridor was thought relevant to their work. A split would allow the Texas law to take effect, but it would not set a national precedent.
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“What is the legitimate interest in protecting their health?” Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller. “Are there going to be more women or fewer women who die from complications?” he said.
The case challenges a Texas law that imposes tough standards on abortion clinics.
The plaintiffs challenged these laws, and they won in the trial court. The evidence that clinics would or already have closed because of the law was minimal at best. “What is the evidence in the record that the closures were related to the legislation?” As usual, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas did not ask any questions.
If Kennedy rules with the liberals to strike down the law, then other abortion restrictions across the U.S. may also come into the crosshairs.
Kennedy’s questions Wednesday did not make clear where he is headed.
Kennedy also said the court may not issue a definitive ruling, and might send the case back to lower courts. The clinics are hoping he’ll join the court’s four liberal justices in deeming the regulations unconstitutional. It also requires that clinics meet the same standards of outpatient surgical centers. But Senate Republicans, backed by the party’s presidential candidates, have pledged to keep Scalia’s seat empty so that the next president can fill it after taking office in January. That means the crucial issue may be not how many women will have to drive how much farther to get abortions as a result of H.B.
If he decides to side with the liberal justices, House Bill 2 will be overturned 5-3. The Washington Examiner reports abortion activists tried to drown out Ryan by chanting “Stop the sham”. It’s important to “do all we can to protect it”, he said in an interview after speaking.
An opinion in the case, which is Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, is expected before the court ends its term in late June or early July.
“There’s a possibility that if the Texas law is struck down by the Supreme Court that some of the abortion laws in Missouri would be unenforceable”, Nash said.
“Basically, your argument is that the law took effect, and after that point, there was a decrease in the number of clinics”, Alito said.
Ginsburg questioned whether the state had evidence that existing state law “was not sufficiently protective of women’s health”.
This is unlikely, though, he continued, and the more probable outcome will be that the lower court ruling stands, leaving HB2 intact. Some women who participated held signs reading, “I am a prolife feminist”.
Stephanie Toti, arguing on the clinics’ behalf, pointed out that the number of clinics had remained fairly stable in the five year period beforehand, followed by the abrupt closure of more than 20 clinics.
Outside the court, dozens of protesters on both sides of the debate chanted slogans.
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The strategy that anti-abortionist used in the high court caught some abortion-rights advocates scratching their heads. We speak to Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior legal analyst and vice president of Law and the Courts at RH Reality Check. The case is being appealed.
