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Supreme Court Blocks Portions of Texas Anti-Abortion Law

Jessica Mason Pieklo

by Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Legal Analyst, RH Reality Check

October 14, 2014 - 7:31 pm


Texas flag

“Tomorrow, thirteen clinics across the state will be allowed to reopen and provide women with safe and legal abortion care in their own communities," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement following the ruling. (Texas flag on Shutterstock)

Read more of our articles on Texas’ omnibus anti-abortion law here.

Over three dissenting justices, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Texas from enforcing key provisions of HB 2, the massive anti-abortion omnibus bill that has closed all but eight clinics in the state.

The Roberts Court released the one-paragraph order late Tuesday night, vacating much of a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that would allow the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) provisions of the law from taking effect. Those requirements mandate abortion clinics meet the same architectural requirements as stand-alone surgical centers. The order came in response to an emergency request by reproductive health advocates for the court to intervene.

Tuesday’s order also blocks the State of Texas from enforcing the admitting privileges requirement of HB 2 for clinics in McAllen and El Paso. That provision requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. That means those provisions will remain blocked while attorneys for the state appeal an August decision striking them as unconstitutional. In the meantime, those clinics that were forced to close after the Fifth Circuit’s decision can now re-open pending Texas’ appeal.

“The U.S. Supreme Court gave Texas women a tremendous victory today,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement following the ruling. “Tomorrow, thirteen clinics across the state will be allowed to reopen and provide women with safe and legal abortion care in their own communities.”

Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito would have denied the request and let the Fifth Circuit decision allowing the ASC provisions to take effect.

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  • fiona64

    This is excellent news.

  • Joe Paulson

    Kennedy finally found a limit?

    • Shan

      There’s hope yet.

  • Shan

    Scalia, Thomas and Alito dissented. What a shock.

    • makingcomments

      What shits!

  • anordinaryguy

    This is a sad development for unborn persons in Texas.

    • http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com/ Russell Crawford

      You have a choice, anordinaryguy, you can save an innocent born baby or you can murder that baby and save a fetus instead. What is your choice? Please answer.

      • Ramanusia

        He’d prefer the fetus, theoretically but not policy or funding wise, since feeding a pregnant lady, providing her with pre-natal care and ensuring that her fetus is not exposed to anything detrimental would be, you know, hard and stuff, and his party his very much against actually doing anything to help women, or fetuses.

        • Nessie

          I can’t upvote this comment enough!

        • Nessie

          I can’t upvote this comment enough!

    • refruits

      Unborn are not persons.

    • Nessie

      Women obtain abortions whether they’re legal or not(in fact, countries in which abortion is banned or heavily restricted usually have higher abortion rates than in countries where abortion is legal and accessible).

    • HeilMary1

      Well boohoo, fetus worshipper, and go to tampon funerals if you really believe your own crap theology.

      • makingcomments

        Haha that was an awesome response!

      • P. McCoy

        Good going! Want to bet he sides with Bill Donahoe about SNAP? Ignore Rome based mind controlled trolls- let’s get the United States to adopt the former British Penal Laws

      • makingcomments

        I just looked at “anordinaryguy’s” comment history, and I really hope he isn’t an ordinary guy, because he is a full-blown misogynist. Has nothing but contempt for women. Interesting that 50 % of these unborn “persons” he purports to protect are female…

        • fiona64

          He’s gone way beyond mere misogyny with his MRA nonsense, if you ask me.

    • HeilMary1

      And how about all those abortions caused by Ebola, oh odious one?

    • Cactus_Wren

      Persons are by definition born.

    • Shan

      Why? What do you, personally, have invested in making sure the state of Texas makes sure that every pregnancy is brought to term?

      • HeilMary1

        More victims for Ebola, pedophile priests and state executions?

        • Shan

          Is it too soon for me to laugh at Ebola jokes?

          • HeilMary1

            WWJD? — What Would Joan (Rivers) Do? She’d yell: “Oh grow up!” She and George Carlin are dueling each other right now with Ebola zingers. And she’s trying to hook up odious guy up with former Wife Swap house guest brawling Bristol Palin.

      • Ramanusia

        There are lots of “private adoption” schemes which have pedophiles eagerly waiting for new victims to flood the market. The men arrested in Ohio recently “adopted” their 8 year old rape victims from Texas. Human trafficking is a very lucrative field, the Catholic church gets 2 BILLION in tax dollars to “take care” of some of these children.

        • HeilMary1

          Many are priests’ secret love children.

    • JAN

      No it isn’t. If a woman doesn’t want to carry a pregnancy to term, she will find a way NOT to. Unfortunately though, when women don’t have the safe and legal way available, they will find a more likely unsafe way, putting THEIR lives and safety in jeopardy. Abortion is a legal right for women in the USA, a misogynist like you just wants women enslaved to her fertility, and hates women. The unborn are not persons, they don’t exist until they are born. Learn some biology, misogynist, and while you are at it, mind your OWN business!

    • Ramanusia

      The unicorns share your sadness for their fellow imaginary non-existent creatures.

      • Nessie

        Unicorns are actually more real than “unborn persons”. Animals like rhinos, as well as mutant one-horned deer and goats, and of course the narwhal, are all examples of real-life unicorns.

        • Ramanusia

          I meant the pretty glory ones, Voldy fed upon, and which grant wishes and walk with harp music playing.

          • Nessie

            It’s probably only a matter of time before someone genetically engineers one of those.

          • Ramanusia

            A wish granting one? The “glowy” products of genetic engineering just look like glow in the dark nail polish. No genetics yet on the holographic or micro shimmery glow that movie magic and sticker makers create.

          • Nessie

            Maybe they could extract iridescence genes from birds or butterflies.

          • HeilMary1

            Ohhh! — you’re giving James Cameron ideas for his next fantasy flick.

        • Ramanusia

          I wrote “glowy”, autocorrect did not like, but glory works too, I guess.

          • catseye

            Autocorrect drives me batshit when it insists on autocorrecting “Bizarro (World)” to “Bizarre.”

        • Unicorn Farm

          You rang? Let me sing you the song of my people.

        • HeilMary1

          And let’s not forget your fabled namesake, Nessie of Loch Ness.

          • Nessie

            Very true!

        • fiona64

          One of those goats was named Lancelot; he was very sweet. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/17/22102725_828ca8fd3d.jpg

          • refruits

            D’awwwwwww

          • Nessie

            What a cute little guy!

          • Arachne646

            And yet his offspring were just potential kids as sperm, zygotes, blastocysts, embryos, and fetuses. Born as little kids, they soon gambolled and skipped around the way kids do. You don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, because you have eggs–you count baby goats or baby humans when they’re born.

        • TheDingus

          I once saw a thoroughbred racehorse at a local stables next to the county track, brought in for a race. He was a descendant of Secretariat, big, red, and rangy, and he had a distinct, small, round bony bump in the middle of his forehead. This was not the convex, broad forehead between the eyes of an Arabian-type dished face; it was specifically round and in the middle of his forehead, like the base of a vestigial horn. Later I was discussing this with a woman who grew up in a family that bred racehorses, and she said it was not unusual to find in thoroughbreds, while performing the old “finger against the nose” gesture, indicating “we don’t talk about it.” Don’t know if that’s true about thoroughbreds, or if it means anything, but I do know what I saw.

          To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Now I will believe that there were unicorns…”

          • Nessie

            I’ve never heard of that before, but it doesn’t sound improbable.

    • fiona64

      I’m sure that the one-eyed, one-horned Flying Purple People-Eater shares your concerns. After all, like “unborn persons,” it is an imaginary being.

    • JamieHaman

      You do realize that not every pregnancy goes to a live healthy child whether or not the SCOTUS approves? You do understand that women, breathing persons, die everyday in childbirth in this country?
      Or is it that you just don’t give a damned about those women and their already born children?

      • P. McCoy

        The latter- born “unrich” children eat up his tax surpluses and he considers their parents to be bums and welfare queens . Catholic Taliban family values!

  • http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com/ Russell Crawford

    Scalia, Thomas and Alito have a choice, they can choose to help save 1.8 born babies, children and adults that are dying each second, or they can choose to let those born babies die and instead save fetuses. How about it Judges, whom do you choose to murder?

    • HeilMary1

      Since Ebola survivors are urged to use condoms for the next 90 days, how much do you want to bet that Catholic extremists impede condom access out of their holy contempt for the already born?

    • Guest

      Citation for that? :A peer reviewed one, not just some blogger ok?

      • http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com/ Russell Crawford

        http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com

        LOL peer review. In a peer review there are 1 too 3 good buddy peer reviewers. I have had thousands of stanchly adversarial reviewers. Many with PHD’s and other advanced degrees. Your request is a joke, right?
        I might submit some time in the future, but so far there is no need.

        Now do you think you have a problem you need addressed or are you here just to read and learn?

      • http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com/ Russell Crawford

        My work has had unlimited peer review. Other peer reviews are limited to 1 to 3 reviewers. My work has had thousands of reviewers. Many of my reviewers have PHD’s or other advanced degrees.

  • http://www.rangerbagel.com Ranger Bagel

    This supreme court is all over the place, but this decision is incredibly encouraging.