Is the Supreme Court the Next Step for Texas Abortion Law?

Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dealt abortion clinics in Texas a blow last week when they upheld the bulk of a state law mandating strict requirements on clinics.

The ruling, if upheld, could shrink the number of Texas abortion clinics from 18 currently in operation to just seven in the country's second-largest state. That's down from 41 before the law passed two years ago.

Anti-abortion protesters pass the Supreme Court in the 
annual March for Life on Jan. 22, 2015.
(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

But for abortion rights activists, the ruling may have a silver lining.

Attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights on Wednesday filed a motion to stay the ruling and vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. They argue that Texas' restrictions are aimed at shutting down clinics, not fostering the welfare of women. Texas lawmakers and officials have maintained the law was created to improve safety standards on abortion procedures.

A Supreme Court hearing could lead to one of the most sweeping national rulings on abortion since Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision legalizing abortion, and could roll back similar laws in states across the USA, says Stephanie Toti, an attorney with the center.

It has to get there first!

"If the Supreme Court upholds this law to be unconstitutional in Texas," she says, "it will be unconstitutional in every other state as well."

That's a big if.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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