This morning, in a 5-4 ruling, SCOTUS struck down Louisiana’s unconstitutional anti-abortion law. This decision upholds the rights of abortion providers and their patients and is a win for reproductive rights. #MyRightMyDecision
This case had to do with onerous & medically unnecessary “safety” requirements which required doctors providing abortions to jump through administrative hoops under the guise of making abortion "safer". Abortion is already safe; these laws do nothing but make it harder to access
Thankfully, in 2016, SCOTUS struck down nearly identical restrictions in Whole Woman's Health vs. Hellerstedt. And today, they upheld that decision, holding that admitting privileges present an undue burden for providers and people seeking health care.
This means that clinics in Louisiana will stay open, & people seeking care won't face additional barriers there. But access to abortion is still inequitable, especially impacting Black, brown, and trans folks. There are still only a few doctors in Louisiana who provide abortions.
In the past year, 12 states have passed 25 abortion bans, attempting to restrict access to critical reproductive health care. Just because these restrictions got shot down doesn’t mean we’re in the clear. SCOTUS has allowed dozens of restrictions on abortion to stay in place.
Even worse: states pass blatantly unconstitutional laws because they know that even if the laws are struck down, it'll still result in the closures of abortion clinics, which of course is the whole point. Make no mistake: access to reproductive health care is still under attack.
And let’s be clear: Chief Justice John Roberts is no ally. He joined the liberal justices on a technicality -- he made it clear in his opinion that he opposes abortion and doesn’t care about access. thehill.com/blogs/congress…
Don’t take today’s victory for granted. There are only four justices on the Supreme Court who think there should be a constitutional right to abortion. vox.com/2020/6/29/2130…
Still, this is a win in a year with very few wins. What do these victories mean & how can we ensure that SCOTUS works for everyone? Join us tomorrow for our Fight Back for Fair Courts rally, where we’ll discuss the decisions that came down this term & how we can fix the courts
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