Texas abortion clinics are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a controversial state law that could force half of the clinics in the state to close down, according to a report in the Associated Press.
The law passed in 2013 calls for abortion clinics to meet standards for ambulatory surgical centers and for doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Abortion rights advocates say that the strict law is too hard for clinics to meet.
“These laws de-facto eliminate abortion in most of the state, making it unobtainable for too many women,” Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards said. The women’s health and abortion provider has some chapters in Texas and has been rocked by scandal of its own surrounding a series of undercover videos that document procurement of aborted fetal body parts.
Supporters of the law say it ensures that the clinics meet high standards for patient care. That was the argument made when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law last year.
The appeals court found that the clinics failed to prove that the ambulatory center requirement “imposes an undue burden on a large fraction of women for whom it is relevant,” court records show.
The law was supposed to go into effect on July 1, and opponents have said it would have closed down about half of Texas’ approximately 20 abortion clinics. But the Supreme Court stepped in just beforehand and temporarily put the law on hold, according to a report in NBCnews.com.
In addition to Texas, 22 states require clinics to meet surgical center requirements and another four require admitting privileges.
