Abortion-Rights Backers Score Biggest Top Court Win in Years
- Justices strike down Texas abortion restrictions in 5-3 ruling
- State required surgical standards, doctor admitting privileges
Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Abortion Limits
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A divided U.S. Supreme Court gave the abortion-rights movement its biggest legal victory in a generation, striking down Texas restrictions that had threatened to close three-quarters of the state’s clinics by setting new requirements for facilities and doctors.
The 5-3 ruling is the court’s first abortion decision in almost a decade. It invalidates provisions that required clinics to meet hospital-like surgical standards and forced abortion doctors to get admitting privileges at a local hospital. The majority rejected the state’s contentions that the rules safeguarded patient safety.