Abortion providers are waiting for the ruling of the United States Supreme court on a restrictive Texas abortion law that could close many clinics providing such service.
In a report by Huffington Post, the Supreme Court will be ruling on the matter by the end of June. The Texas abortion law imposes strict regulations that abortion doctors and clinic facilities need to follow. The ruling will determine whether or not the law violates a woman's constitutional right to end her pregnancy.
The Texas abortion law is requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges, which means they should have formal affiliation at a hospital that is within 30 miles of the clinic. This has since been implemented. The other requirement of the law asks clinic to have high-grade facilities and strict standard for room size, corridor width, floor tiles, swinging motion of doors, and many more. This second requirement has not been implemented yet.
The law was signed by a Republican governor back in 2013 and defended that it is to protect the women's health.
However, abortion rights supporters say that the law imposes unnecessary regulations in order to shut down clinics and dramatically reduce the access to abortion in the state.
The ruling will be decided by the eight justices, who are four conservatives and four liberals. This comes after the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. It is possible that 4-4 split will take place. If this happens, it is possible that many states will pass bills similar to that of Texas. Republican-governed states have considered measures to restrict abortion in the past.
If and when the court decides 4-4, the lower court ruling will be upheld leaving the abortion clinics to shut down. Texas recently have 19 clinics and it will drop down to nine.
Legal fights over same laws are ongoing in states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin.
