Top U.S. court set to consider contentious Texas abortion case

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Top U.S. court set to consider contentious Texas abortion case
Reuters
By Lawrence Hurley
6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court was set to hear its first abortion rights case in nearly a decade on Wednesday as it weighs a Texas law that the state contends protects a woman's health but abortion providers assert is aimed at shutting down their clinics.

Eight justices will hear the case, not the usual nine. The Feb. 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who opposed abortion and backed restrictions on it, means the court no longer has five conservatives who might support more restrictive abortion regulations nationwide.

The court potentially could split 4-4, with its four liberal justices opposing the abortion restrictions and its four conservatives backing the regulations, an action that would let stand a lower-court ruling that affirmed the Texas law but would not set a nationwide legal precedent.

There is also a chance that conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, could join the liberals for a majority invalidating the law, or parts of it. Kennedy in past cases has supported a fundamental right to abortion but has endorsed restrictions including bans on a late-term abortion procedure.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/top-u-court-set-consider-contentious-texas-abortion-190636489.html

[forest444]

1. Had he lived, this would have meant going back to thedays of alleys and coat hangers for Texas women

Which goes to show that kicking the bucket was arguably the most decent thing Scalia ever did.