Ruling halts abortions at third of Texas' clinics- Court reinstates most of Texas' new abortion
restrictions
A third of the abortion clinics in Texas can no longer perform the procedure starting Friday after a federal appeals court allowed most of the state’s new abortion restrictions to take effect.
A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Thursday evening that Texas can enforce its law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital while a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moves forward. The panel issued the ruling three days after District Judge Lee Yeakel determined that the provision violated the U.S. Constitution and said it serves no medical purpose.
The panel’s ruling is not final, and a different panel of judges will likely hear the case in January. But in the meantime, Texas clinics will have to follow the order. Twelve of the 32 clinics in Texas that perform abortions don’t have doctors who have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, meaning they won’t be able to perform the procedure, though they can provide other services.
In its 20-page ruling, the appeals court panel acknowledged that the new provision ‘‘may increase the cost of accessing an abortion provider and decrease the number of physicians available to perform abortions.’’ However, the panel said that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that having ‘‘the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate’’ a law that serves a valid purpose, ‘‘one not designed to strike at the right itself.’’
<snip>
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2013/11/01/ruling-halts-abortions-third-texas-clinics/mwvzGEIQfsIMNk93YkknfP/story.html
A federal appeals court reinstated most of Texas' tough new restrictions on abortions Thursday in a ruling that means as many as a dozen clinics around the state will not be able to continue performing procedures.
The restrictions could take effect Friday, stopping abortion procedures in at least one-third of the state's licensed health centers, according to opponents of the law.
The ruling from a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals came just three days after a federal district judge set aside part of the law, a requirement that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. That ruling by Judge Lee Yeakel said the provision served no medical purpose.
The ruling came on an emergency appeal by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, to the conservative 5th Circuit, arguing that the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges is a constitutional use of the Legislature's authority.
<snip>
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/31/texas-abortion/3331201/
