Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg smacked down the Texas abortion law in a succinct opinion
REUTERS/Mario Anzuon
The authors of the law, House Bill 2 or HB2, say it was designed to protect the safety of women by requiring abortion clinics to meet the standards of "ambulatory surgical centers," or hospital facilities that can accommodate low-risk surgery. It also mandated that abortion doctors have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic.
But, as Ginsburg pointed out in her opinion, far more dangerous procedures - like childbirth - aren't subject to these kinds of restrictions.
"Given those realities, it is beyond rational belief that H.B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law 'would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions,'" she wrote.
She also pointed out the likelihood of women resorting to unsafe procedures when they are unable to have a safe abortion. HB2 would have caused the majority of Texas' abortion clinics to close, leaving some women in rural areas hundreds of miles away from a clinic.
"When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety," she wrote.
Ginsburg concurred with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer, who authored the majority opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, dissented.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- FSSAI in process of collecting pan-India samples of Nestle's Cerelac baby cereals: CEO
- Private Equity Investments
- Having an regional accent can be bad for your interviews, especially an Indian one: study
- Dirty laundry? Major clothing companies like Zara and H&M under scrutiny for allegedly fuelling deforestation in Brazil
- 5 Best places to visit near Darjeeling
- Climate change could become main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century: Study
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market