Texas’ abortion bill may face next battle in the courts
Tamir Kalifa/The Associated Press
State troopers flanked Democratic state Sens. (from left) Sylvia Garcia of Houston, Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, Royce West of Dallas, Kirk Watson of Austin and John Whitmire of Houston as they signaled their votes against HB2 to abortion-rights advocates at the state Capitol in Austin.
By BRITTNEY MARTIN Austin Bureau bmartin@dallasnews.com Published: 13 July 2013 11:08 PM Updated: 13 July 2013 11:24 PM
AUSTIN — Sweeping abortion restrictions were passed by the state’s lawmakers late Friday, but a slew of court injunctions and blocks of similar laws in other states may mean the contentious measure is ready for its next battleground: the courts.
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill just before midnight, with all but one Democrat voting against it. The bill, which was derailed in last month’s special session by a Democratic filibuster, would give Texas some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws.
It includes four major elements: a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a requirement that abortion physicians have admitting privileges at local hospitals, a requirement that abortion facilities meet the same standards as surgical centers and restrictions on abortion-inducing medication.
The regulations are similar to laws enacted in recent years by other states, many of which have met court challenges.
Supporters of the bill, however, weren’t concerned about the legality of the measure.
Gov. Rick Perry, who will sign the bill into law in the next few days, said Saturday that the measure will withstand court challenges by those who oppose it, adding “we wouldn’t have passed it if we didn’t think it was constitutional.”
Perry said that although some critics believe the bill goes too far, “most Texans don’t.”
The bill’s author, Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, argued that the bill is about protecting women’s health.
Critics, however, say the measure’s intent is to close abortion clinics and block doctors from performing the procedure.
Laubenberg acknowledged that opponents will challenge the bill. “It will probably go to the Supreme Court,” she said.
Americans United for Life, which has served as a resource in helping shape many new abortion laws in the U.S., says the measures are legal. The anti-abortion advocacy group also hopes the new laws might become vehicles for overturning Roe vs. Wade. The Supreme Court’s historic decision in that case — which pitted plaintiff Norma McCorvey (under the pseudonym Jane Roe) against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade — established in 1973 a woman’s right to an abortion.
“No one can predict which cases, if any, will proceed to the Supreme Court,” said Kristi Hamrick, spokeswoman for Washington-based Americans United for Life.
The most aggressive effort in the nation came this year in North Dakota, [see below]which passed a law to ban abortions after six weeks and approved an amendment to the state’s constitution outlawing abortion altogether. The amendment, which will have to be approved by voters in 2014 before it can become law, defines human life as beginning at fertilization.
Devyn Nelson, executive director of North Dakota Right to Life, said the ultimate aim is a challenge to Roe vs. Wade, even recognizing it will lead to legal expenses for the state.
“We are trying to save human lives, and we need to do that regardless of what that is going to cost us monetarily,” he said.
Texas’ measure, which would restrict abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, uses an underlying argument for the timeframe. Some studies show a fetus can experience pain after that point. Under current law, abortions in Texas are prohibited after 24 weeks.
Ten other states have passed identical restrictions based on the moral argument over fetal pain.
Jordan Goldberg, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the move to limit abortions earlier in pregnancy is a new trend.
“Applying these kinds of licensing requirements to first trimester, or abortion at any stage of pregnancy, was unheard of prior to a couple of years ago,” Goldberg said.
Idaho’s 20-week ban was struck down in March, and court action in Georgia has stalled implementation of that state’s ban.
Other states have adopted more stringent time constraints. Arizona and North Carolina outlawed abortion procedures after 18 weeks, but Arizona’s law has already been struck down by a federal appellate court.
“Under controlling Supreme Court precedent, Arizona may not deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at any point prior to viability,” the court decision said. “While the state may regulate the mode and manner of abortion prior to fetal viability, it may not proscribe a woman from electing abortion, nor may it impose an undue burden on her choice through regulation.”
More recently, Arkansas banned abortions after 12 weeks and North Dakota after six weeks, basing it on conflicting definitions of when a heartbeat can be detected. A federal judge has issued an injunction against Arkansas and an abortion-rights group has filed suit against the North Dakota law.
“It’s clear the courts found these [restrictions] unconstitutional,” Goldberg said. “We’ve been seeing that courts presented with the question are reaching that conclusion fairly quickly.”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been clear in his support for the bill. “When the battle leaves the statehouse, it is going to wind up in the courthouse,” he said at an anti-abortion rally at the Capitol last week. “And when it does, in me you have an attorney general who has your back.”
Texas falls under the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has shown a willingness to accept more stringent limits on abortions.
If adopted, the law in Texas would require the physician performing surgical abortions or administering abortion-inducing medication to have admitting privileges at a hospital less than 30 miles from where the abortion is performed.
In three of the eight states that have passed similar laws, court action has stalled their implementation.
According to the court filings, the single abortion provider in Mississippi tried “diligently” to gain admitting privileges for all of their physicians but no local hospitals would extend the privilege.
Only four states actively require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The same will be required in North Dakota in August, although a lawsuit has already been filed to block the North Dakota law from taking effect.
The bill’s supporters say it’s necessary for doctors administering or inducing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in the event that there’s a complication that requires hospitalization.
Opponents — including the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — disagree, saying such a provision is medically unnecessary.
All states regulate abortion facilities in varying degrees, but some restrictions are more rigid than others. Abortion clinics are inspected annually in Texas, but if the new law goes into effect, all abortion facilities would have to meet the same standards as surgical centers. These requirements would include specific room and doorway sizes, air sterilization systems, back-up generators, blood supplies and the requirement to have both male and female locker rooms on site.
The Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion rights, estimates that 26 states require abortion clinics to meet facility standards similar to those of surgical standards. However, only four of those states have standards as stringent as those in the proposed Texas law.
Of those four states, Missouri agreed in 2010 that it would force only new abortion facilities to meet the higher standards. Kansas is still barred from enforcing the standards because of litigation dating back to 2011. And a lawsuit is pending in Virginia, brought by a private abortion facility, claiming the requirements are unnecessary and could cost millions. Many other Virginia clinics shut down because of the new regulations.
One was Hillcrest Clinic, which found that it would cost $500,000 to meet ventilation and temperature control regulations, according to Planned Parenthood.
In Pennsylvania, no lawsuits have been filed, but many clinics were forced to close after they also found the mandatory upgrades too costly.
“The fact that doctors and clinics cannot comply with these types of laws is not some unfortunate or unforeseen consequence; it’s the very point of them,” said Elissa Berger, senior advocacy and policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Texas would also require abortion providers administering abortion-inducing medication to follow FDA protocol, which is 12 years old and no longer used as best practices by most physicians.
Of the three states with laws requiring that physicians follow FDA protocol, two have been overturned, but a similar law in Ohio has been upheld on appeal.
Staff writer David Barer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Brittney Martin on Twitter at @beedotmartin.
5 Things You Need To Know About Texas’ Anti-Abortion Bills––And The “Feminist Army” Fighting Them
Winona Dimeo-Ediger June 24, 2013 15 Comments // News
If you don’t live in Texas, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of House Bill 60 (HB60) and Senate Bill 5 (SB5), a pair of rabid anti-abortion measures that aim to effectively outlaw abortion across the entire state. I’ve followed the HB60/SB5 saga through the articles and Twitter updates of Texas pro-choice activists (and Frisky contributors!) Andrea Grimes .. https://twitter.com/andreagrimes , Dan Solomon .. https://twitter.com/dansolomon , and Jessica Luther .. https://twitter.com/scATX . These three are part of a group of hundreds of citizen activists who have set up camp at the State Capitol to demand access to reproductive healthcare, and they’ve been working their asses off to stop these bills.
I’ve never even been to Texas, but as I saw the situation play out I experienced alternating waves of pride and rage. I asked Dan and Jessica how non-Texans could help the cause. “Just letting people know,” said Jessica. “Let people in Texas know to call their reps. Tell those outside the state to bear witness both to what conservatives are doing and that there is a concerted pushback grassroots effort.” Dan agreed: “Let’s definitely not let the fact of the concerted pushback go unmentioned, please. It only makes things that much harder for people here when we get painted as a bunch of idiot rednecks.” Point taken. Here are a few things everyone should know about HB60, SB5, and the fight to stop them:
1. The bill would close 37 of the state’s 42 abortion clinics. Texas is the second largest state in the union. It is 773 miles wide and nearly 800 miles long. It has a population of 26 million people, many of whom live in rural areas, and nearly 20% of whom live below the poverty rate. SB5 will leave just 5 abortion clinics open (shown in purple dots in the photo above), and even those clinics that remain open will be banned from performing abortions after 20 weeks. It’s needless to say this bill would gut Texas women’s access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, and the people hit hardest will be poor and rural women, who don’t have the means or transportation necessary to travel huge distances for an abortion. As of right now, despite massive resistance from Texas citizens, HB60 passed and SB5 is on its way to the state senate.
2. Pro-choice Texans formed a “people’s filibuster” to block the bill from a vote. On Thursday night, over 700 Texas citizens assembled at the capital to testify against HB60 and block the destructive bill from being voted on. At midnight, a Republican Representative Byron Cook tried to shut down the seemingly endless stream of men and women giving their 3-minute testimonies because it had “become repetitive.” The so-called “Feminist Army” of protesters refused to back down. When a woman was removed from the podium, protesters began chanting “Let her speak! Let her speak!”
The hearing was reconvened, and a woman named Lesli Simms came to the podium. “Our words are not repetitive,” she said. “Our government’s attacks on our choice, on our bodies, is repetitive.” The testimony continued until nearly 4AM, when Cook finally got so tired and cranky that he just left the room, despite the fact that three women were standing up to testify and hundreds more were still waiting to speak.
3. The bill’s sponsor thinks a rape kit is the same as an abortion. While arguing against an amendment to the bill that would add an exception to the abortion ban in cases of rape or incest, the bill’s sponsor, Jodie Laubenberg (R-Parker), claimed such exceptions were not needed because, and I quote, “in the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out.” Yes, she seriously said that. Laubenberg is also a member of the state’s public health committee. Head, meet desk.
4. Texas Democratic legislators deserve major props. It’s very easy, especially for outsiders, to dismiss all Texan politicians as bible-thumping bigots. Don’t. The fight against HB60 and SB5 has highlighted some of the dimmest bulbs of the Texas legislature (See Jodie “Rape Kit Abortion” Laubenberg, above), but it has also shone a light on Democratic leaders who stepped up to protect their constituents from this dangerous piece of legislation.
Representative Senfronia Thompson from Houston hung a wire coat hanger on the microphone as she argued for an exception to the abortion ban in cases of rape and incest. Representative Terry Canales, who represents Hidalgo County in South Texas, more than 200 miles from the closest abortion clinic that would remain open under SB5, told republican senators the bill would send his female constituents into a “war zone” over the border to seek abortions. El Paso Representative Mary Gonzalez reminded her Republican colleagues that limiting abortion access doesn’t stop abortion, it just makes them unsafe. She also asked how her poor constituents, some of whom have no running water, could reasonably be expected to travel to San Antonio for an abortion. “I’m telling you what’s happening in MY community,” she said; under SB5, her community will be 600 miles away from the nearest abortion clinic.
Democratic state senators have vowed to filibuster the bill when it comes to the senate. They may be outnumbered and often drowned out and ignored by their right-wing counterparts, but Texas Democrats are still a force to be reckoned with.
“It’s no accident or coincidence that so-called flyover states have passed highly restrictive abortion bills in advance of Congress’ vote. That’s part of the plan. Anti-choice politicians and activists have been working for years to reduce access to abortion in red states where they know they’ll find little opposition from friendly legislators looking to ramp up the war on women.
Texas is not a throw-away state full of throw-away people who can be shrugged off with a contemptuous, ‘Well, what do you expect?’ Texas is not an outlier. Texas is a test case for right-wingers with their eyes on the coasts and, as Congress showed this week [when they passed a 20-week abortion ban .. http://www.thefrisky.com/2013-06-19/house-of-representatives-passes-ban-on-abortion-after-20-weeks/], Washington, D.C.”
Texas needs the support of pro-choice activists across the country right now. It needs to be taken seriously, as does every assault on abortion rights in every single state. Share this story and let people know exactly how massive protests are being ignored and reproductive rights are being stripped away. Let’s keep the voices of those brave Texas activists echoing across the country, even long after their microphones have been turned off.
US supreme court to hear biggest abortion rights case in two decades
Court will weigh Texas law HB2, which imposes ‘ambulatory surgical center’ requirements on clinics and could leave millions of women without access
Pro-choice activists in Washington DC. The supreme court will hear a challenge to Texas law HB2, which has led to the closure of more than half the state’s abortion clinics. Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Molly Redden in Washington @mtredden
Saturday 14 November 2015 07.16 AEDT Last modified on Saturday 14 November 2015 08.59 AEDT
The US supreme court has agreed to hear a challenge to one of the nation’s harshest abortion laws in what could be the most consequential case on abortion rights the court has taken in 23 years.
The law, known as HB2, is a Texas measure passed in 2013 that has since led to the closure of more than half the state’s abortion clinics. Out of the hundreds of new abortion restrictions lawmakers have passed since 2010, few have had such a profound impact on abortion access in a single state.
That would be many illuminating laser lines of questioning, among them Justice Breyer’s about how closing facilities, cutting off clinical access to safe medications and procedures, delaying abortions until later in pregnancy, and forcing women onto freeways and into overnight stays hundreds of miles away from home just might lead to an increase in the number of women who end their own pregnancies outside of the formal health care system. Justice Breyer and his sistren repeatedly call out the illogic of these cascading effects flowing directly from the state’s dementedly disingenuous claim of wanting to enhance women’s health by enacting the sweeping set of anti-abortion laws that is HB2 .. http://data.rhrealitycheck.org/law/texas-omnibus-abortion-bill-hb-2-2013/ .
What Happens When There Is a 75 Percent Reduction in the Number of Clinics?
Here’s a hint: It isn’t fewer abortions.
Justice Breyer correctly points out that excessive restrictions on abortion provision limit clinic access and increase the necessity for self-administered abortion care. The Texas Policy Evaluation Project .. http://www.utexas.edu/cola/txpep/_files/pdf/TxPEP-ResearchBrief-ImpactofAbortionRestrictions.pdf .. report concluded that as many as 100,000 women in Texas have already attempted to end their own pregnancies outside the formal medical system. Global data .. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_IAW.html .. have consistently demonstrated that highly restrictive laws do not reduce the abortion rate, they simply relocate the site of abortion care from the hospital to the home.
Before your mind goes conjuring up gruesome images, take note that this is not your grandmother’s self-induced abortion. Coat hangers .. http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/12/tenn-woman-charged-coat-hanger-abortion-case-reduced-charge .. and other dangerous methods, while still occasionally employed, have largely given way to safer methods. More often than not, the women in the TxPEP report, and other studies, used traditional herbs or safe and effective pharmaceutical pills .. https://fundabortionnow.org/get-help/using-medications .. purchased online?the same pills they would be prescribed by a healthcare professional for a fraction of the costs.
What Abortion Access Looks Like Under HB2 for People Living in Poverty
The abortion costs borne by people living in poverty .. http://rhtp.org/abortion/documents/TwoSidesSameCoinReport.pdf .. are much higher than one might think. A pregnant woman in Texas who is struggling to make ends meet may be shocked to discover that her health insurance doesn’t cover abortion. Like the rest of the 13.5 million women of reproductive age in the United States who rely on Medicaid, she’ll have to pay out of pocket for the abortion medication or the procedure, both of which cost about $500 in the first trimester. Tack onto that the price of bus tickets or gas, which could be high if she’s one of the 10,000 women who live more than 150 miles from the nearest abortion provider under HB2. Plus, she has to come up with money for a place to stay overnight and child care for the kids she had to leave behind. That’s all assuming she can afford the lost wages for the days away from work. All told, securing an abortion can cost some families .. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/02/25/3622531/cost-abortion-investigation/ .. half a month’s pay.
Mustering Bravery and Ingenuity to Secure an Abortion
The reality is that if 75 percent of the clinics in Texas close, we won’t see 75 percent fewer abortions. Resourceful women and their loved ones will find ways to end pregnancies outside the formal medical system. For some, the self-induced abortion experience will be a positive one, occurring in a safe place through effective means while accompanied by a loved one. For others, particularly people living in poverty, immigrants, and people of color who are disproportionately arrested for pregnancy-related crimes .. http://jhppl.dukejournals.org/content/38/2/299.refs , the self-induced abortion experience may be shrouded by the fear of jail or deportation.
A Better Way That Truly Enhances Women’s Health
In addition to fighting laws like HB2 and others that threaten to cut off clinic-based abortion care, we must also work to halt the criminalization of self-induced abortion, which effectively curtails the abortion right altogether for many people. Instead of going after people for ending their own pregnancies, we should be working to end the stigma, restrictions, and other barriers to health care that overzealous lawmakers have imposed on abortion access.
Should the Court deadlock 4-4 and allow the lower court opinion to stand, 5.4 million women of reproductive age in Texas will be forced to run the gauntlet of HB2 abortion restrictions against the ticking clock of the 20-week abortion ban .. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/20-week-abortion-bans-explained . However, should the Court muster a majority and strike down these regulations as the wolves in sheep’s clothing they are, it will help to remove at least a few of the obstructions from the obstacle course that has become abortion access in this country.
That’s still not enough, of course. Women deserve access to the full panoply of provider-directed and self-directed abortion care options .. https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SIA-Legal-Team-Primer.pdf , along with the freedom to choose the setting and method right for them?without fear of going broke or getting locked up. This is what it would look like to truly enhance women’s health through expanded, rather than contracted, abortion care options.
How America Was Lost .. bit .. On the substantive divide between the parties: I still encounter people on the left (although never on the right) who claim that there’s no big difference between Republicans and Democrats, or at any rate “establishment” Democrats. But that’s nonsense. Even if you’re disappointed in what President Obama accomplished, he substantially raised taxes on the rich and dramatically expanded the social safety net; significantly tightened financial regulation; encouraged and oversaw a surge in renewable energy; moved forward on diplomacy with Iran. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=120538607
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
