Supreme Court Backs Abortion Rights

Supreme Court Backs Abortion Rights pixabay.com This overruling is being referred to as one of the “strongest endorsements” of abortion rights in the U.S. The ruling was 5 to 3 against the law, claiming that it “placed an undue burden on women exercising their right under the U.S. Constitution to end a pregnancy,” a law that was established during the infamous Roe v. Wade decision. This law was challenged by the abortion providers themselves with the claim that the law was making it too difficult to get an abortion, placing unnecessary restrictions specifically intended to close out the clinics. However, Texas officials claim that this law was simply put in place to protect women’s health during abortion procedures. And with the decision made by the Supreme Court, it’s now likely that similar laws in other states around the country will be ruled unconstitutional, meaning many other abortion restrictions may be reversed in some of the more conservative states. This is good for women’s rights, but will spark controversy as many conservative people don’t believe abortion should be legal at all. According to Jennifer Dalven, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, “The decision should send a loud signal to politicians that they can no longer hide behind sham rationales to shut down clinics and prevent a woman who has decided to end a pregnancy from getting the care she needs.” According to President Barack Obama, he is “pleased to see the Supreme Court protect women’s rights and health” as such restrictions “harm women’s health and place an unconstitutional obstacle in the path of a woman’s reproductive freedom.” Perhaps most surprising is that conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy actually joined the liberal members in this ruling, leaving only three justices dissenting. According to the court’s ruling, “both key provisions of the law requiring abortion doctors to have difficult-to-obtain ‘admitting privileges’ at a local hospital and requiring clinics to have costly hospital-grade facilities violated a woman’s right to an abortion.” According to Justice Stephen Breyer (one of the liberal justices), “We conclude that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes … 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 … questions of medical uncertainty is also inconsistent with this court’s case law.” The case was Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt and it’s the biggest trial in regards to abortion rights since the rights were first granted to women in the 1992 ruling. According to abortion rights activist Marcela Howell, “We’re ecstatic. The reality is today women won.” The restrictive law in question was passed back in 2013 by a Republican majority legislature and was signed by a Republican governor, and 10 states have admitting privilege requirements and six have laws regarding hospital-grade facilities. Of course, not everyone is happy with the ruling. According to the Republican Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, “The decision erodes states’ lawmaking authority to safeguard the health and safety of women and subjects more innocent life to being lost. Texas’ goal is to protect innocent life, while ensuring the highest health and safety standards for women.” But the law was creating major problems, as the number of abortion clinics in Texas dropped from 41 all the way to 19. To put this into perspective, the law required many costly changes to facilities, including such changes as irrelevant as “corridor width, the swinging motion of doors, floor tiles, parking spaces, elevator size, ventilation, electrical wiring, plumbing, floor tiling and even the angle that water flows from drinking fountains.” Essentially, the law was passed to shut down a majority of abortion clinics, and it worked. However, public opinions on the issue are split. An online poll revealed that 47 percent of the population believes abortion should generally be legal while about 42 percent believe abortion should generally be illegal. According to Amy Hagstrom Miller, the founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, “Every day Whole Women’s Health treats our patients with compassion, respect and dignity and today the Supreme Court did the same. We’re thrilled that today justice was served and our clinics stay open.” Hillary Clinton also voiced her opinion on the issue, calling the ruling “a victory for women in Texas and across America … This fight isn’t over. The next president has to protect women’s health. Women won’t be ‘punished’ for exercising their basic rights.” On the opposing end, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Republican) said, “It’s exceedingly unfortunate that the court has taken the ability to protect women’s health out of the hands of Texas citizens and their duly-elected representatives.” Regardless of your opinion on the issue of abortion, the Supreme Court has spoken, and it’s foreshadowing much more change to come.