June 27 was a day that will go down in history for both abortion rights and pro-life activists, being that part of Texas’s famous HB2 laws that curbed the legal abortion cutoff date to 20 weeks, and required Ambulatory center regulations and hospital admission for all clinics was partially struck down, taking away the requirements for there to be hospital admission rights and Ambulatory Center regulations 5-3 (1). Abortion rights activists hailed this as a victory, calling it a win for women (2); “In a thrilling victory for women, the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled to protect access to safe, legal abortion. The landmark ruling blocks two unconstitutional Texas restrictions that threatened to close a significant number of abortion providers.” The statement continued, “With its decision, the Court recognized that these restrictions do not enhance patient safety, but rather punish women by blocking access to safe abortion.” Pro-Life activists found it to be a resounding defeat for the health and safety of women and their children. President of Students for Life of America Kristan Hawkins stated (3), “Women lost today. The Supreme Court decided that the right to abortion is more important than keeping women safe and alive. They’ve ruled that states don’t have the rights to protect half their citizens. This is, once again, five unelected judges politicizing this human rights issue which is a travesty.”
The divide stands in the idea of access versus safety. While one group believes that having more access to abortion care ensures that there will be safe, legal abortion access for all women, the other group believes that not having any regulation and not having Ambulatory Center regulations or hospital admitting privileges only puts the safety of women who seek abortion in danger, allowing them to have abortions in places that are not regulated or not inspected regularly. Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values stated (4), “Our main concern is the protection of innocent life and Texas women.” He continued, “We will continue to stand for women to keep them safe so they are not maimed or die in abortion clinics.” In 2015, New York’s abortion clinics came into the news when it was reported that eight of 25 clinics were not inspected in 12 years, while five others were only inspected once in a dozen years (5). The vendetta is that although having more abortion access may seem to be better for women, having more clinics with little to no regulation only spells more danger for women.
The original HB2 law was passed in the summer of 2013, and the law mandated there to halt abortions past 20 weeks, for abortion clinics to have ambulatory center regulations which would allow for EMT’s to pass through clinic hallways in case of an emergency, and have hospital admitting privileges to admit a patient into the hospital in case of an disaster (6). These regulations made it so that many clinics in the state of Texas decided to close, since they were not able to receive admitting privileges or invest in creating ambulatory center regulations. At the time when the Supreme Court struck down this aspect of the law, only nineteen clinics were left open in the entire state, while the others did not comply with the then statutes. With the decision, this aspect of the law was struck down, but the abortion ban past 20 weeks continues to stay in place. Without this law in place, abortion clinics can operate in any way they please, including the possibility of another Kermit Gosnell clinic coming into being. The striking down of this aspect of this law leaves the health of women going in for the abortion in danger, and it makes it so that a woman will no longer know if she will be protected throughout her procedure were something to go wrong.
The regulations that were in place before they were struck down should be returned and put in place. These regulations allowed for the abortion procedure to be done as safely as possible, with backup should something go wrong. The clinics that adhere by these regulations are putting the health and safety of the women going in for the procedure first, while the ones that celebrate this ruling can now do as they please, and operate the clinic as they wish, without having a way to call an EMT or admit the patient to a hospital should an emergency situation arise. The pull for there to be unlimited abortion access has sacrificed the safety of women who are going in for the procedure, and is essentially leaving them in the dust, leaving them to sacrifice their health in order to procure an abortion. Women in this country have been sacrificed at the altar of money and power, and have been offered the access to unregulated, unsafe abortion as a result. Asking for these regulations to remain and stay is not misogyny, but simply looking out for the safety and protection of Texas (and on the whole American) woman.
Learn more about the Supreme Court Decision here.
[1] Ura, A. (2016, June 27). U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Texas Abortion Restrictions. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/27/us-supreme-court-rules-texas-abortion-case/
[2]Berg, M. (2016, June 27). WIN FOR WOMEN: Supreme Court Strikes Down Dangerous Texas Abortion Restrictions! Retrieved July 20, 2016, from https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/win-for-women-supreme-court-strikes-down-dangerous-texas-abortion-restrictions
[3]Shepherd, J. M. (2016, June 29). 9 Pro-Life Leaders React to Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Abortion Law. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://www.christianpost.com/news/9-pro-life-leaders-react-to-supreme-court-ruling-on-texas-abortion-law-165773/
[4]Shepherd, J. M. (2016, June 29). 9 Pro-Life Leaders React to Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Abortion Law. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://www.christianpost.com/news/9-pro-life-leaders-react-to-supreme-court-ruling-on-texas-abortion-law-165773/
[5]Campanile, C. (2015, February 09). NY abortion clinics ‘inspected less than pizzerias’: Radio ads. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://nypost.com/2015/02/09/new-york-abortion-clinics-inspected-less-than-pizzerias/
[6]Ura, A. (2016, June 27). U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Texas Abortion Restrictions. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/27/us-supreme-court-rules-texas-abortion-case/
