A federal appeals court yesterday upheld a strict abortion law in Texas that critics call “devastating,” and say would shut down the majority of clinics in the state.
“If permitted to take effect, the impact will be devastating for women in Texas seeking access to abortion services,” said Stephanie Toti, a lawyer for a clinic challenging the law, in a press release.
The Texas abortion law, known as House Bill 2, passed in 2013 and amends the health and safety codes in the state to require abortion providers to operate in accordance with the same standards as hospital surgical centers in terms of equipment, staffing and building requirements.
The law also requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals “no more than 30 miles from the location at which the abortion is performed or induced.”
“Texas’ stated purpose for enacting H.B. 2 was to provide the highest quality of care to women seeking abortions and to protect the health and welfare of women seeking abortions,” read the ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. “There is no question that this is a legitimate purpose that supports regulating physicians and the facilities in which they perform abortions.”
Those in favor of the law say they are simply asking abortion clinics to adhere to the same standards that hospital surgical centers are required to follow.
“Like the other provisions of Texas’ law, these requirements are common-sense protections that ensure the maximum amount of safety for women,” said Natalie Decker, an attorney for the pro-life organization Alliance Defending Freedom. “Abortionists should not be exempt from medical requirements that other doctors are required to follow.”
In light of the court’s ruling, Texas abortion clinics that challenged the law announced their plans to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court’s prior rulings do not allow for this kind of broadside legislative assault on women’s rights and health care,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We now look to the justices to stop the sham laws that are shutting clinics down and placing countless women at risk of serious harm.”
Yet, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade left room for states to impose limitations on abortions, so long as they do not enact an “undue burden” on the right to an abortion.
Because as many as half of the abortion clinics in Texas could be forced to close under H.B. 2, clinics argue the law could force women to drive hundreds of miles for an abortion clinic.
But the appeals court found that because such a small fraction of Texas women would be forced to travel unreasonable distances to seek an abortion, the law did not impose an “undue burden” on what the Supreme Court defines as a “large fraction of relevant cases.”
“H.B. 2 both protects the unborn and ensures Texas women are not subjected to unsafe and unhealthy conditions,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who argued the case before the 5th Circuit in January.
“[The] decision by the 5th Circuit validates that the people of Texas have authority to establish safe, common-sense standards of care necessary to ensure the health of women.”
