Abortion Providers Ask SCOTUS to Reinstate Injunction

This story is an update to an earlier report from Rebecca Aaronson about a court ruling in Texas that caused 9 abortion providers in the state to stop abortion services. Marni Evans and her fiancé, John Lockhart, whose abortion procedure in Austin was canceled on Friday, spoke to the Texas Tribune.

This story is part of an ongoing series that 2013 Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism Grantee and National Health Journalism Fellow Becca Aaronson will write for the Texas Tribune on women's health care in the state.  For a complete look at Aaronson's extensive coverage, click here.

Abortion providers on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a lower federal court’s injunction that blocked Texas from implementing strict new abortion rules.

“Right now, women in vast swaths of Texas are being turned away at clinic doors because of a bogus law that attempts to do underhandedly what states cannot do directly — block women from accessing abortion services," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We now look to the Supreme Court to protect women's access to these essential health care services while we fight this critical court battle.”

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday lifted a lower court’s injunction, allowing the state to implement two provisions in House Bill 2 that require abortion providers to obtain hospital admitting privileges nearby the facility and follow federal guidelines, rather than a common, evidence-based protocol, when administering drug-induced abortions.

Justice Antonin Scalia, who is considering the plaintiffs' request, has ordered the state to respond by Nov. 12. The plaintiffs anticipate that Scalia will issue an expedited decision shortly after receiving the state's response. He could also refer the case to the entire U.S. Supreme Court. If Scalia does not reverse the 5th Circuit's decision or refer the case to the whole court, the plaintiffs may ask another Supreme Court justice to consider the case. If the case is not considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, it will still proceed in the 5th Circuit, which has scheduled a hearing in January 2014.

The plaintiffs argue that a third of abortion providers in the state have been unable to obtain hospital admitting privileges and that, as a result, more than 100 women had their abortion procedures canceled on Friday and many more are unable to schedule appointments. The Tribune has confirmed that at least nine abortion facilities have stopped performing abortions due to the new law.

Marni Evans and her fiancé, John Lockhart, whose abortion procedure in Austin was canceled on Friday, spoke to the Tribune about the impact of the law on Sunday.

Read the original story here.

Remote video URL