Five justices on the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law today that required abortion sellers to meet the same level of medical safety standards as other similar surgical centers.
Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer described such basic requirements as an “undue burden.”
The three conservative justices stood against the decision. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “Our law is now so riddled with special exceptions for special rights that our decisions deliver neither predictability nor the promise of a judiciary bound by the rule of law.”
Family Policy Alliance filed a brief with the high court in support of the commonsense law. President Paul Weber said women deserve better than today’s ruling.
“All abortionists and abortion facilities should be held to the same basic standards of care we expect in other surgical centers in our country,” he explained. “Is this ruling really considering the best interests of women? Likely not.”
Jonathan Saenz, president of our ally Texas Values, said the five justices care more about profits for abortion clinics than safety for women.
“Our main concern is the protection of innocent life and Texas women,” he said. “We will continue to stand for women to keep them safe so they are not maimed or die in abortion clinics.”
Autumn Leva, policy director for Family Policy Alliance, said the Court is forcing states to accept “inferior care in order to make it easier for abortion sellers to stay in business.”
“Hillary Clinton is already celebrating it as a victory,” the attorney said. “If she is elected president, we can expect a liberal court for generations.”
Argue that abortion providers shouldn’t get a pass on basic health standards simply to keep them in the market.
Colorado Springs, CO, March 2, 2016– Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the most important abortion case to reach the Court in 25 years. CitizenLink, along with the Charlotte Lozier Institute and Students for Life of America, filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of HB2, a Texas law that demands abortion providers be held to the same health and safety standards as other outpatient surgical centers.
The brief documents the decline in demand for abortions across the country over time, due to increases in the percentage of younger Americans identifying as pro life, as well as opting to carry their babies to term after an unexpected pregnancy. Charlotte Lozier Institute President Chuck Donovan said Texas abortion numbers track well with national trends.
“Moreover, Texas’ health standards are justifiable safeguards including treating abortion sites as ambulatory surgical centers,” he said, “a measure specifically recommended by the grand jury that reviewed the tragic errors Pennsylvania made in the Gosnell case.”
Clinics in Texas are closing because they fail to meet basic health and safety standards. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America said HB2 may have contributed to those closings, but it is not the driving force.
“The abortion industry is in a freefall because they realize that they need to push abortion now more than ever,” she said, “and they are pushing it to a generation where the majority find abortion to be morally reprehensible.”
Paul Weber, president and CEO of CitizenLink, said clinics that don’t meet basic health and safety standards should not be in operation in the first place.
“States should not be in the business of subsidizing inferior care for patients in order to make it easier for abortion providers to enter and remain in the market,” he said. “Abortion proponents say Texas’ regulations are ‘onerous.’ I say the families of the women killed at Kermit Gosnell’s abortion facility would disagree.”
CitizenLink and its alliance of nearly 40 state-based family policy groups work to ensure a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.