HOUSTON – The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a Texas case that will decide whether states can restrict access to safe and legal abortion by imposing unnecessary regulations on providers that force many clinics to close.
There are two laws at issue in the case. The first requires doctors who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The second requires that abortion facilities meet the same building standards as ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Both are opposed by leading medical groups, like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who have filed briefs with the Supreme Court stating that laws are unnecessary and put women’s health at risk.
The following can be attributed to Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas:
“A woman’s constitutional right to safe and legal abortion services was recognized more than 40 years ago, but extremists in the Texas legislature have been whittling that right away ever since. Medically unnecessary restrictions on health care providers like the ASC requirement advance politicians’ ideological agenda, but at the expense of women’s health. I’m hopeful that the Supreme Court will put the interests of Texan women over the political interests of Texas legislators and strike down this dangerous law before any more clinics close.”
The following can be attributed to Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project:
“When the leading medical groups like the AMA oppose these laws, you have to ask yourself what they are really about. They’re about shutting down clinics and attempting to prevent a woman who has decided to have an abortion from getting one. We are hopeful that the Court will stay true to its precedent and make perfectly clear that medical evidence matters. The Constitution doesn’t allow states to rely on sham justifications for shutting down clinics in an effort to stop women from getting abortions.”
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are counsel in Alabama and Wisconsin cases that also challenge the admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical requirements. The Texas Case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
View the full news release from the American Civil Liberties Union, which provides more background on the cases:
https://www.aclu.org/news/supreme-court-will-hear-case-could-allow-states-strip-away-abortion-access
And more information about the ACLU’s Wisconsin and Alabama cases are available at:
https://www.aclu.org/cases/planned-parenthood-southeast-inc-v-strange
https://www.aclu.org/cases/planned-parenthood-wisconsin-v-van-hollen
