Alan Chen, a constitutional law expert at the University of Denver’s Strum College of Law, said Wednesday he does not believe the Colorado Attorney General’s Office involvement will factor in whether the court takes the case.
The high court’s two-paragraph order Monday did not explain the reasons for its decision. As few as seven abortion clinics are expected to remain open in the state. Wendy Davis staged a 13-hour filibuster against it. Unable to meet the requirements, more than half the abortion clinics in Texas have closed. It’s also worth noting that roughly 60,000 women seek abortions in Texas every year.
If the state Supreme Court favors Dietz’ ruling, the Republican-run Legislature would have to propose a new system. Whole Woman’s Health was forced to permanently shutter its North Austin clinic (now transformed into an abortion rights non-profit) and its clinic in Beaumont.
As women’s health advocates fight the new laws, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is trying to crack down even more on abortion access. They said it is the legislative branch who has the duty to allocate taxpayer dollars and pass laws. The legislation was struck down by a trial judge shortly after being signed into law, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals nearly completely reversed the lower court’s decision. “Today we announce that we will be seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of our case”. “This opinion (from Hendricks) strikes at the heart of allowing the officials closest to the people to make the decisions”.
There were 41 abortion clinics in Texas when the law passed in 2013, now there around 18.
The involvement of Clement – who as USA solicitor general from 2005 to 2008 represented the federal government in U.S. Supreme Court arguments – is another wrinkle. This caused school districts to reduce services, like busing, and layoffs led to an increase in the number of schools exempted from a state requirement limiting class sizes to maximum of 22 students per teacher for kindergarten through the fourth grade. One requires abortion facilities to be constructed like surgical centers.
“Texas politicians are trying to sneak around the Constitution and more than four decades of Supreme Court precedent with sham laws that do nothing to improve women’s health care”.
That is not endemic to the state of Texas.
If the Supreme Court hears the appeal, it would be one of the most anticipated cases of the court’s next term, which starts in October.
That test replaced the prior three-trimester framework defining abortion rights that the Court established in the original case, Roe v.Wade, in 1973. Does it go beyond the mere geographical location of abortion providers?
Texas isn’t the only state with restrictive new abortion legislation being challenged in the Supreme Court. Northup voiced concerns that if the Supreme Court chooses to not take up the case, other states will pass similar laws aimed at closing clinics.