Federal Court Upholds Texas’s Strict Anti-Abortion Laws
Even though the new laws have resulted in the closing of 20 clinics around the state, the federal appeals court said these new restrictions don’t negatively impact the health of women.
A panel of judges at the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court judge who said the rules violate the U.S. Constitution and served no medical purpose. Despite the lower court’s ruling, the appeals court already had allowed some rules to go into effect while it considered the case. The latest decision means more regulations will begin later this year, as scheduled, and sets the case up for a likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In its opinion, the appeals court said the law “on its face does not impose an undue burden on the life and health of a woman.”…
“The latest restrictions in Texas will force women to have abortions later in pregnancy, if they are able to get to a doctor at all,” Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Votes, said in a statement. The American Civil Liberties Union said “The law is having a devastating impact on women in Texas, and the court should have struck it down.”
