Day: June 27, 2016

”In January, I joined 14 other state Attorneys General in urging the United States Supreme Court to invalidate provisions of a new Texas law that unduly burdened the rights of women to choose whether to have an otherwise legal abortion. I was pleased today to see that the Supreme Court – not just by a divided plurality decision, but by a clearly articulated majority decision – invalidated the Texas restrictions that were challenged. In so doing, the Court gave renewed confidence to those who believe in a woman’s right to choose that the Court would fairly and impartially apply its own precedents regarding state imposed restrictions of that right.”

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. One part of the law requires all clinics in the state to meet the standards for ambulatory surgical centers, including regulations concerning buildings, equipment and staffing. The other requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. “We conclude,” Justice Breyer wrote, “that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes. Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution.”