Supreme Court Invalidates Louisiana Restrictive Abortion Law

Defeat for anti-abortion. The United States Supreme Court on Monday June 29 struck down a very restrictive Louisiana abortion law. The text, adopted in 2014, aimed to oblige doctors performing abortions to obtain a license to practice in a hospital located less than 50 kilometers from the place of the intervention. It was about protecting women in case of complications and ensuring “continuity of care”, pleaded its promoters. But for defenders of the right of women to terminate their pregnancy, the law would have closed two of the three establishments performing abortions in Louisiana.

Beyond the local issue, the record was seen as a barometer of the Supreme Court’s determination to uphold its historic 1973 ruling, Roe V. Wade, which recognized the right of Americans to have an abortion. The Louisiana law was indeed almost similar to a Texas text, which the Court had struck down in 2016, deeming it too restrictive. “We have examined the files closely” and both “are comparable in all respects and impose the same result. Accordingly, we find that Louisiana law is unconstitutional “, decided the Court by a small majority (five judges out of nine). Court President John Roberts, a moderate conservative, joined his four progressive colleagues in the name of respecting “res judicata”.

However, he had supported Texas law in 2016. “I still think it was a bad decision”, he wrote in an opinion attached to the decision. The question is not, however, whether the Court has “right or wrong” in 2016 but “to know if his judgment binds us in the present case”, he continued. So the answer is yes. “We are relieved that Louisiana law has been blocked”, immediately commented the chair of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northup, who represented state clinics. But for her, the fight is not over since many states continue to adopt restrictive laws.

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