The Nation's Most Conservative Court Just Shut Down Two-Thirds of Texas Abortion Clinics

[Novara]

The Nation's Most Conservative Court Just Shut Down Two-Thirds of Texas Abortion Clinics

Federal judges upheld a sweeping anti-abortion law on Tuesday in a decision that will shutter most abortion clinics in Texas.

The ruling held that the law, HB 2, which requires abortion facilities to comply with hospital-like standards, does not pose an undue burden for the majority of women seeking abortion in Texas, millions of whom will now have to travel hundreds of miles for an abortion.

The law calls for clinics to follow the state's rules for ambulatory surgical centers, facilities that are very costly to operate. In 2013, Planned Parenthood opened a brand-new ASC in Forth Worth at a cost of $6.5 million. Only seven abortion clinics in Texas comply with ASC standards; 13 other clinics face imminent closure.

Whole Woman's Health, the plaintiff in the case, vowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and to ask the justices to put the ruling on hold immediately. Unless the Supreme Court steps in, the clinics will be forced to close in 22 days. The case, if it goes before the high court, could result in a definitive ruling on when an abortion restriction is too restrictive and constitutes an "undue burden."

"Not since before Roe v. Wade has a law or court decision had the potential to devastate access to reproductive health care on such a sweeping scale," said Nancy Northrup, the CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Whole Woman's Health in the lawsuit.

The ruling is a broad victory for Texas on what most consider the most restrictive abortion law in the country: Other provisions of HB 2, which were not a part of Tuesday's ruling, have already closed more than 20 abortion providers across the state. Judges were drawn from the most conservative appeals court in the country, US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio are the only cities which have abortion clinics that comply with the ASC standards If the decision goes into effect, more than 1.3 million women of reproductive age in Texas will live 100 miles or more from the nearest abortion clinic. Three-quarters of a million women will live 200 miles away or more. The westernmost clinic in Texas will be located San Antonio, leaving a swath of Texas 550 miles wide without an abortion provider. El Paso, at the western tip of the state, will become the largest US city without an abortion provider.

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/federal-court-texas-law-will-close-majority-abortion-clinics

__________________

And that's not an undue burden????

[marym625]

1. I was going to post this in LBN this morning and got side tracked.

The war on women has gone on much too long and done way too much damage

I hope you cross post to GO. This shit needs to be seen by everyone

[Ilsa]

2. Cytotec will be the next big underground drug in Texas.

Or mifespristone.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. That's what I'm thinking too

[Novara]

4. It's the same drug and women are being prosecuted for using it

See the recent story out of Georgia (it's been posted in this folder).

[Ilsa]

5. misoprostol is the generic name for Cytotec.

Mifepristone (Mifreprex) is a different drug. Mifepristone is affects progesterone receptors. Misoprostol induces contraction.

[Novara]

6. Update - Abortion rights groups file motion to halt key provisions in Texas law

Abortion rights groups file motion to halt key provisions in Texas law

Several women's health providers filed a motion on Wednesday seeking to halt a U.S. appeals court decision a day earlier allowing Texas to impose restrictions on abortions, and said they plan to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the main provisions of the 2013 Texas abortion law including one called an "ambulatory surgical center" requirement that mandates clinics have certain hospital-grade facilities, a regulatory hurdle critics said was designed to shut down abortion providers.

"Plaintiffs respectfully ask the Court to stay its mandate to preserve abortion access for all Texas women while Plaintiffs file a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court," the groups, which include Whole Woman's Health, said in the petition.

In its decision, the appeals court said the state intended its measures to protect women's health. The groups said allowing the provision to take effect would close almost all abortion clinics in the state, a situation the Supreme Court has previously not allowed.

Critics have contested the law in courts since it was approved. They say its provisions have no public health benefits, place an undue burden on women and have a negative impact by forcing women to seek abortions at illegal and unlicensed facilities.

The law's supporters have said it would protect women from substandard abortion facilities and raise the standard of care.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/us-usa-abortion-texas-idUSKBN0OQ27K20150610?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Such bullshit "reasoning."