A sign at a Planned Parenthood Clinic is pictured in Oklahoma City, Friday, July 24, 2015.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYqsevRDtPc
Eight years since its last major abortion ruling, the Supreme Court in 2016 will consider whether lawmakers went too far when they imposed strict new rules on abortion providers in 2013.
There are two rules in question: One requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital no further than 30 miles away from the location at which the abortion is performed. The second rule requires abortion second dui in consequences clinics to be constructed like surgical facilities. Women's health advocates argued in their brief to the court that the new regulations would force more than 75 percent of the state's abortion clinics to close. They argue this would violate the precedent the Supreme Court set in 1992 with its Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling: the government can impose restrictions on abortion services so long as they don't impose an "undue burden" on women.
"If allowed to take effect, [the blood alcohol level of 250 rules] would cause profound and irreparable harm to the rights, health, and dignity of women throughout Texas," the petitioners wrote. They "would delay or prevent thousands of women from obtaining abortions and lead some to resort teenage drunk driving article to unsafe or illegal methods of ending an unwanted pregnancy."
In their reply, Texas officials argue the rules were "enacted to raise standards of care and ensure the health and safety of all abortion patients."
The ruling would impact in Texas, the second most populous state in the nation, and several states that are enacting laws similar to the Texas regulations.
