Texas researchers’ findings factor into abortion ruling

(REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)Demonstrators celebrate at the Supreme Court after the court struck down a Texas law imposing strict regulations on abortion doctors and facilities. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which covers 28 counties stretching from the Bay Area to the Bakersfield area and out to Nevada, estimated in its 2015 report that 18,305 abortions were performed. Among some academics, the group’s barrage of research published since the law passed in 2013 was unrivaled, pushing into the public arena suggestions that more women may try ending their own pregnancies or were driving farther to get abortions.

The closest places for Merced women to receive abortions are about 50 minutes away, either in Modesto or Madera, she said. It specifically held that an admitting privileges requirement for abortion providers and a burdensome surgical center facility requirement constitute undue burdens on a woman’s right to choose abortion.

Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union accused state health officials of “concealing” statewide abortion totals for 2014 in violation of open records laws.

The question ahead, Northup said, is whether other types of state restrictions also pose such a burden. Supporters of the Texas law, and similar laws enacted in other states, said both provisions were necessary to ensure safe, high-quality care for women.

Courts have blocked some of those measures from taking effect. Had the Court voted otherwise, the group claimed that the state would be left with only nine abortion centers out of some 40 health centers that are now in operation. “Just as we worked for over a decade to overturn Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee vs. Sundquist in my state, we must now work to overturn this decision at the federal level and restore a culture where every child is welcomed in life and protected in law”. “It also means a significant increase in the distance women of reproductive age live from an abortion clinic”.

Over the past five years, state lawmakers have passed at least 300 abortion restrictions, shuttering clinics across the country. This could take many years. “2 (the new Texas law) would be more effective than pre-existing Texas law at deterring wrongdoers like Gosnell from criminal behavior”, he added.

That rationale failed to sway a majority on the high court, however, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing in the majority opinion that Texas attorneys could not produce “a single instance in which the new requirement would have helped even one woman obtain better treatment”.

Schimel, who filed an amicus brief in the Texas case in support of the restrictions, said Monday’s ruling “is disappointing and undermines the respect due to policymakers”.

In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers in 2013 authorized the state health department to apply any ambulatory surgical center requirement to abortion facilities.