Leaders of North Dakota’s sole abortion clinic in Fargo say they may again challenge a state law requiring doctors who perform abortions to obtain hospital-admitting privileges now that a similar law in Texas was struck down Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The justices on Tuesday refused to hear appeals involving laws that would have forced doctors who perform abortions at clinics in the two states to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton celebrated the decision as a victory for women, as did Planned Parenthood and other women’s rights groups. “This is the biggest case since Roe v. Wade in terms of its impact on access to a safe and legal procedure”.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said state attorneys on Monday were reviewing the Supreme Court decision, but that another legal battle appears unnecessary.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the Fargo clinic and is based in NY, filed a lawsuit in state court challenging North Dakota’s law that required admitting privileges within 30 miles of the facility.
“We have reasonable proximity, which is what we’ve had in law for a very long time with regards to all other clinics, and we’re doing abortion clinics the same way”, she said. The state’s only remaining abortion clinic is in St. Louis and operated by Planned Parenthood.
“We are evaluating all of our options in light of this decision and will do everything in our power to fight for women’s access to abortion in Arkansas and throughout our affiliate”, Rachel Lopez, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said in an email. Several states have recently banned dilation-and-extraction, a common second-trimester abortion technique that opponents have depicted as “dismemberment abortion”. “The landmark decision to strike down an unconstitutional law in Texas reaffirms that women in Wisconsin and across the country have a constitutional right to make their own health choices”.
“It seems like these five justices are more concerned about access to abortion than health care to the women”, he said.
“The Supreme Court saw through that kind of sham reasoning, and now courts will have to look at the evidence instead of just deferring to the Legislature”, he stresses.
Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said despite the court’s rejection of the state’s appeal, the anti-abortion group remains “undeterred in our efforts to protect women and unborn children from the abortion industry”. But in Florida, he said, stronger protections are in place — those of privacy.
That mandate is now likely to be challenged in court, because of this Supreme Court ruling against it.
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Monday’s ruling drew a wide range of reactions from political candidates and activists. The Texas case could have repercussions for women nationally. But state lawmakers pledged new abortion-related bills during the next legislative session.
