Lawsuit filed to block Texas abortion law

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/lawsuit-filed-to-block-texas-abortion-law/nZ8rt/

Category: Abortion rights

Level: State

This article concerns a policy that affects families and individuals.

Next month, doctors who perform abortions in clinics must have admitting privileges in hospitals. Women's health organizations and abortion-rights groups have filed a lawsuit to block this regulation on the grounds that it will force clinics to shut down, limiting access to abortion.

My views:

Abortion is legal and, until Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, it is the right of every American to choose to have an abortion. House Bill 2, which was passed this past summer, imposes regulations so stringent and arbitrary that clinics will be forced to close, very effectively blocking Texas women's access to abortions.

No one is fooled by claims that House Bill 2 is intended to protect the health of women. If these clinics close, then women who have depended on these clinics for health care will suffer. Clinics that perform abortions are also important health care resources for poor, rural women. Governor Rick Perry has stated outright that his intention is to deny access to abortions. I very much hope that those who consider the merits of this lawsuit can recognize that House Bill 2 interferes with the personal, medical decisions made by Texas Women.

As it stands, the requirement that doctors performing abortions at clinics gain admitting privileges at local hospitals may cause about 13 out of 36 abortion clinics in Texas to close. At many clinics, the doctors who perform abortions are not local and so it is impossible for them to gain these privileges.

This lawsuit is especially important because it will lay the framework for challenging other requirements of the bill, including the requirement of abortion clinics to convert into ambulatory surgery centers – a costly and unnecessary venture which will certainly cause a great many clinics to shut their doors. This requirement goes into effect next year, so women’s rights advocates have time to see how this lawsuit goes and to formulate a plan to prevent more clinic closures.