The United States Supreme Court Monday struck down a two laws passed by a Texas court that would have made it almost impossible for women to get abortions in that State.
Authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, SCOTUS ruled 5-3 deeming the law to be unconstitutional due to ‘substantial burdens’ it would have forced upon women.
The Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt would have mandated two regulations saying all abortion clinics adhere to standards of an outpatient surgical center while also requiring doctors to obtain surgical privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of their respective clinics.
If the regulations were upheld, it would have cost clinics in the State of Texas to spend millions of dollars in upgrades and pretty much shut down all but five clinics in the State essentially making the abortion option impossible.
“We conclude that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes,” Breyer wrote in the Hellerstedt decision. “Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution.”