In One of the Greatest Victories for Reproductive Rights, the Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas’s Restrictive Abortion Law

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down parts of Texas’s restrictive HB-2 law, a decision that has been hailed as one of the greatest victories for reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade. In the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 3 in favor of Whole Woman’s Health, arguing that HB-2 placed an undue burden on a woman’s access to an abortion.

The Supreme Court’s decision overturns two parts of a controversial Texas law that had would have closed down all but 10 abortion clinics in the state. The law, which was passed in 2013 by then-governor Rick Perry, required abortion providers to have admitting privileges and clinical standards of ambulatory surgical centers, which included dozens of specifications on things such as the width of corridors and the size of its elevators. The state argued that these restrictions were placed to protect a woman’s safety, but in the court’s majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer ruled that these restrictions “vastly increase the obstacles confronting women seeking abortions in Texas without providing any benefit to women’s health capable of withstanding any meaningful scrutiny.” Breyer continued: “Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a pre-viability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the federal Constitution.”

Besides Texas, several other conservative states, including Wisconsin, Kansas, and Michigan, passed similar measures restricting abortion access. Today’s decision most likely means most of those laws will be considered unconstitutional as well.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hailed the Supreme Court’s landmark decision. “By striking down politically motivated restrictions that made it nearly impossible for Texans to exercise their full reproductive rights, the court upheld every woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion, no matter where she lives,” she said via a released statement. “Today’s decision is a reminder of how much is at stake in this election. We need a president who will defend women’s health and rights and appoint Supreme Court justices who recognize Roe v. Wade as settled law.” Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who once said that women who got abortions should be subjected to “some form of punishment,” has yet to release a statement.

 

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