Salon

Monday, Jan 6, 2014 2:33 PM UTC

Federal appeals court to review Texas abortion law as battle for reproductive rights rages on

The odds may be stacked against reproductive rights groups, but the stakes for Texas women couldn't be higher

Topics: Abortion, abortion rights, Texas, TRAP laws, Wendy Davis, Women's Health, Women's Rights, , ,

Federal appeals court to review Texas abortion law as battle for reproductive rights rages on (Credit: Associated Press)

The battle against Texas’ sweeping abortion restrictions continues Monday as a federal appeals court is set to review the law that shuttered or reduced services at a third of the clinics in the state, leaving women across Texas without access to abortion and other reproductive health services.

As the Associated Press reports, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is set to hear arguments from Planned Parenthood and other providers over a lower court ruling declaring provisions of the law — one requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, the other restricting drugs used in medication abortions — unconstitutional.

In October 2013, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that the admitting-privileges requirement lacked any medical justification and granted an injunction, but the conservative 5th Circuit reversed Yaekel’s ruling, putting the provision into effect. Planned Parenthood requested that the Supreme Court block the implementation of the law, but the high court refused.

As Irin Carmon at MSNBC reports, the 5th Circuit panel is composed of conservative, Republican-appointed judges who have shown a hostility to reproductive rights in the past:

Two of the judges who will hear the case today have already signaled their views by voting to let the law immediately go into effect. The third, Edith Jones, upheld Texas’s forced-ultrasound-before-abortion law, and who was the subject of a rare ethics inquiry following remarks she made suggesting African-Americans and Latinos are “predisposed to crime.”

The odds may be stacked against Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in the state, but the stakes couldn’t be higher for Texas women.

As a result of the law, 34 clinics have reduced or eliminated abortion services and 12 were forced to close outright. In this landscape of access, demographers have predicted that 22,000 women will be denied safe abortion services in 2014.

The case is expected to eventually land on the Supreme Court’s docket.

More to come as this story develops.

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie McDonough.

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • 1 of 8
  • Close
  • Fullscreen
  • Thumbnails

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Brandon, 28, "Hipster"
    This self-proclaimed "hipster" by trade — that's right, not an artisanal chocolatier or re-claimed wood whittler but a generic "hipster" — doesn't even have any tattoos. (He does list one of his best attributes as "humble," though).

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Evan, Erectile Dysfunction Expert, 33
    Believe it or not, the worst thing about Evan isn't his career. His biggest deal-breaker is: "Girls with chipped nail polish, girls who talk too much, narcissists, clingers, girls who have serious food allergies." Jabbing yourself in the leg with an Epi pen actually sounds preferable to a date with him.

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Daniel, Male Model, 31
    A "male model" who refers to his body as a "lambo" not once, but twice, in a biography that he presumably had time to mull over. (Example: "Are you comfortable wearing swimwear in public?" "Very comfortable. Why have a lambo if you park it in the garage?”)

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Nick S., Software Salesman, 26
    Not only does Nick S. take neckerchief fashion cues from Fred of "Scooby-Doo," but he lists the food he dislikes most as “scary cheeses.” Bad-mouthing cheese is like bad-mouthing our best friend. Deal-breaker, Nick S. Deal-breaker.

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Grant, Firefighter, 27
    On the one hand, Grant is the sexy firefighter of our dreams. On the other hand, his worst date memory is “Getting lunch with a girl and listening to her talk about Harry Potter for 20 minutes” — which actually doesn’t sound like enough time spent talking about the British national treasure.

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Vinny, Barber, 28
    Vinny, who somehow lives the paradoxical life of being a professional barber and existing with this haircut.

    "The Bachelorette" men are the worst: 7 reasons why this season is going to be a glorious disaster

    Will, Civil Engineer, 26
    If Will could switch bodies with anyone for a day it would be serial womanizer and self-proclaimed “recovered ego addict” John Mayer so... um... yeah, enough said.

  • Recent Slide Shows

Related Videos

Comments

Loading Comments...

follow salon

brought to you by

Most Read

From Around the Web

Presented by Zergnet