The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas’ sweeping abortion regulations on Monday, ruling 5-3 that they unconstitutionally limit a woman’s right to obtain an abortion under Roe v. Wade.
Justice Stephen Breyer’s decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, in which Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court’s liberal justices, delivers a major blow to abortion opponents, who made clinic regulations a major part of their strategy over the last few years.
Requiring abortion providers to obtain hospital admitting privileges and for abortion clinics to meet surgical facility standards have made it so hard for abortion providers to operate that such measures constitute what’s known as an “undue burden” on getting an abortion, Breyer wrote.
In his opinion, Breyer pointed to studies showing complications from an abortion rarely require a hospital admission and noted the sharp dropoff in abortion facilities in Texas after the law went into effect.
“The challenged provisions of H.B. 2 close most of the abortion facilities in Texas and place added stress on those facilities able to remain open,” Breyer wrote. “They vastly increase the obstacles confronting women seeking abortions in Texas without providing any benefit to women’s health capable of withstanding any meaningful scrutiny. The provisions are unconstitutional on their face.”
President Obama said he was “pleased” with the decision, and said it’s one that will help protect women’s rights.
“As the brief filed by the Solicitor General makes clear and as the Court affirmed today, these restrictions harm women’s health and place an unconstitutional obstacle in the path of a woman’s reproductive freedom,” Obama said. “We remain strongly committed to the protection of women’s health, including protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her right to determine her own future.”
Breyer was joined by Kennedy and liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, with Ginsburg writing a concurring opinion. The court’s conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.
Alito wrote the dissenting opinion, saying that the court’s decision was swayed by feelings on abortion and not on the constitutionality of the case.
“The court’s patent refusal to apply well-established law in a neutral way is indefensible and will undermine public confidence in the court as a fair and neutral arbiter,” his opinion writes.
Texas and more than a dozen other Republican-led states have passed such regulations, which resulted in many abortion clinics closing down and saying they couldn’t meet the requirements. While conservatives argued that such laws merely make the procedure safer for women, the measures infuriated abortion rights supporters who charged they were a thinly veiled attempt to shutter clinics.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled that states may regulate the procedure of abortion as long as the laws don’t place an undue burden on women trying to get an abortion. With its Hellerstedt decision, the court spelled out some specific boundaries for how closely states can regulate providers.
Ever since Texas passed its regulations in 2013, more than half of the state’s abortion providers closed down and they were expected to be further reduced to fewer than 10 had the court upheld it.
The Supreme Court’s decision reverses a previous ruling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upholding the Texas law.
Abortion rights groups quickly applauded the decision, while abortion-opposing groups counted their losses.
“The Supreme Court sent a loud and clear message that politicians cannot use deceptive means to shut down abortion clinics,” said Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the pro-choice Center for Reproductive Rights.
National Right To Life noted that part of the Texas law remains in effect—its regulations on medication abortions and its ban on abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy. The Family Research Council called the decision “a loss for women.”
“While the need to protect the health and safety of women failed to remain at the forefront of the Supreme Court’s decision, we will continue our work to protect women and children from the predatory abortion industry,” FRC President Tony Perkins said in a statement.
The Texas law was passed in 2013, after an unsuccessful filibuster from former State Sen. Wendy Davis. Her infamous filibuster catapulted Davis to national fame, and fueled an unsuccessful campaign for Texas governor in 2014.
