Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana law that would have limited state to one abortion clinic

FAN Editor

A placard saying, Abortion is a Human Right, is seen during the “Stop The Bans Day of Action for Abortion Rights” rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Monday voted 5-4 to strike down a restrictive Louisiana abortion measure in a major win for reproductive rights activists, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court’s four liberals. 

Justice Stephen Breyer, who authored an opinion joined by his fellow Democratic appointees, wrote that the law placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Roberts wrote separately to say his thinking was based on the court’s 2016 decision to strike down a similar law in Texas.

The case involved a Louisiana abortion law requiring doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. Challengers of the law alleged the restriction would limit the state to just one abortion provider at a single clinic. 

Breyer wrote that the law posed a “substantial obstacle” on women and provided “no significant health-related benefits,” and therefore was unconstitutional. 

The dispute was the first over abortion to be argued before President Donald Trump’s two appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. It came just four years after the top court ruled that a similar abortion law passed in Texas was unconstitutional.

Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenged the Louisiana abortion law at the top court, said in a statement that “we’re relieved that the Louisiana law has been blocked today but we’re concerned about tomorrow.”

“With this win, the clinics in Louisiana can stay open to serve the one million women of reproductive age in the state. But the Court’s decision could embolden states to pass even more restrictive laws when clarity is needed if abortion rights are to be protected,” Northup said.

The case is the third in a string of major victories for liberals at the high court that have come in the midst of an election battle between Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Trump campaigned on nominating justices who would “automatically” overturn the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade. 

Earlier this month, Roberts joined the court’s four Democratic appointees rebuffing the Trump administration’s effort to terminate the Obama-era immigration program known as DACA. Also in June, Roberts and Gorsuch sided with the four liberals in a decision that held that gay and transgender workers can’t be fired on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Roberts cites 2016 abortion case from Texas

Roberts said his vote with the liberals on Monday was based on the top court’s precedent in  Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a case the court decided in 2016. In that case, the court struck down a nearly identical Texas law by a 5-3 vote. Roberts voted at the time to uphold the law. 

But in his opinion on Monday, Roberts said that the legal doctrine known as stare decisis, or the principle of adhering to precedent, “requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike.”

“The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons,” Roberts wrote.  “Therefore Louisiana’s law cannot stand under our precedents.”

The case is June Medical Services v. Russo, No. 18-1323.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates. 

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