Original Story: usatoday.com
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court eased the burden of a new law on Texas abortion clinics Tuesday over the objections of its three most conservative justices.
The court allowed most of the law to take effect, with two major exceptions. It blocked a provision that would have required clinics to meet the same construction and nursing-staff standards as ambulatory surgical centers. And it exempted abortion providers in McAllen and El Paso — remote corners of the sprawling state — from needing admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
The compromise appeared to have been endorsed by six justices, because the other three — Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — said they would have let the entire law stand.
The Texas law had forced all but seven clinics in the nation's second-largest state to close. Abortion rights proponents argued that it was stopping women from getting abortions because of the cost and distance involved in reaching one of the few remaining licensed clinics.
A district judge had struck down the law, ruling that it imposed an undue burden on women seeking abortions. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit blocked that decision from going into effect earlier this month.
Even with the Supreme Court's partial reversal, the law is scheduled to be reviewed in full at the appeals court. The rapid flurry of court rulings affects only what the standard should be during the appeals process.
The law's opponents argued in their brief that "women's ability to exercise their constitutional right to obtain an abortion will be lost, and their lives will be permanently and profoundly altered." They said illegal abortions already are on the rise because 41 clinics had been reduced to seven — none south or west of San Antonio, "an area larger than most states."
The state argued that the restrictions were akin to others allowed by the Supreme Court in its 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision and since then. Moreover, it said, "abortion remains widely available in Texas," with 83% of residents living within 150 miles of a compliant clinic.
"Behind the plaintiffs' impassioned rhetoric, this case is more about who will be performing abortions in Texas than it is about whether they will be performed," the state's brief said.
The Texas law is one of many passed by Republican state legislatures in recent years that test the limits of abortion restrictions. While the 1973 Roe v. Wade case legalized abortions, Casey and other cases since have approved many restrictions, including a ban on late-term abortions.
The issue is likely to return to the Supreme Court, possibly as soon as next year. Although the Texas case was decided on an emergency appeal, it could return to the court for full briefing and oral argument, or the justices could agree to hear another — potentially an Arizona case concerning drug-induced abortions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment