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THE US SUPREME Court struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with his four more liberal colleagues in ruling that the law requiring doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates the abortion right the court first announced in the landmark Roe vs Wade decision in 1973.
In two previous abortion cases, Mr Roberts had favoured restrictions.
The Louisiana law is virtually identical to one in Texas that the court struck down in 2016.
“The result in this case is controlled by our decision four years ago invalidating a nearly identical Texas law,” Mr Roberts wrote, although he did not join the opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer for the other liberals.
In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: “Today a majority of the Court perpetuates its ill-founded abortion jurisprudence by enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction.”
President Donald Trump’s two appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were in dissent, along with Justice Samuel Alito.
The presence of the new justices is what fuelled hopes among abortion opponents, and fears on the other side, that the Supreme Court would be more likely to uphold restrictions.
Nancy Northup, president and chief executive of the Centre for Reproductive Rights, said today’s decision by no means ends the struggle over abortion rights in legislatures and the courts.
“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.
Early last year, Mr Roberts joined with the four liberal members of the court to grant that request and keep the law on hold.
Mr Roberts’ vote was a bit of a surprise because he voted in the Texas case to uphold the clinic restrictions.
It may have reflected his new role since Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement as the court’s swing justice, his concern about the court being perceived as a partisan institution and respect for a prior decision of the court, even one he disagreed with.
Mr Roberts did not write anything explaining his position at the time, but he had never before cast a vote on the side of abortion rights.
The regulations at issue in Louisiana are distinct from other state laws making their way through court challenges that would ban abortions early in a pregnancy.
Those include bans on abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks, and the almost total ban passed in Alabama.
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Babies lives matter
@John Fahy: Women’s rights matter.
@John Fahy: What babies? This is abortion we are talking about i.e. embryos and foetuses
@The Risen: Which are lives. They don’t become lawnmowers. Lol
@John Fahy: Under European law, foetus is generally regarded as an in utero part of the mother and thus its rights are held by the mother. The European Court of Human Rights opined that the right to life does not extend to foetuses under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
@The Risen: sure the forced birthers would tell you that a tadpole is a frog.
@The Risen: You’ll only hear it being referred to as a fetus during abortion debates. Outside of this area, it’s nearly always known as a baby. Not one sonographer, consultant, doctor, midwife etc. ever mentioned the word fetus during any of my wifes pregnancies. It was always baby. Also look at ‘baby on board’ signs for pregnant women on busses or any advertising about expectant mothers and look at the terminology used. Clinical language used in these debates to avoid arousing emotions.
@Longlin: It’s about healthcare for women in a crisis. ‘Aroused emotions’ of third partys clutching their pearls belong elsewhere.
@The Risen: you are talking about human beings, the most vulnerable human beings on the planet.
@The Risen: you were an embryo once.
@Longlin: actually I think you’ll find that in any medical setting the correct terms are used. Using the incorrect terms is and has always been a play on emotions. You used advertising as an example, literally people who thinktank every single and spend millions to convince people to buy their product by hook or by crook. Whereas medical professionals, you know, the ones that actually work in this area, it’s a foetus. Biology isn’t that hard. Yes, when dealing with the parents doctors put things in simpler terms. They always do. Myocardial infarction becomes heart attack, cerebrovascular accident becomes a stroke, cephalgia becomes headache.
@Dave O’Keeffe: “becomes a heart attack etc” and termination of the human foetus becomes choice.
@Seamus Mac: This is the core of the controversy – is the fetus a person or not? If it is, abortion is wrong. If it isn’t a person, abortion is acceptable. We just can’t agree if a fetus is a person or not.
@Seamus Mac: Yes it does. The woman’s choice. Not your choice or my choice but the choice of the human being whose body is involved and whose circumstances you may know absolutely nothing about. I’m very willing to let each person make the choice they perceive as being the right choice without judgement. If abortion goes against a woman’s ethical outlook then I also have no problem with that. Its strictly a matter of individual choice.
@Conall: No, its not the core of the discussion at all. The core of the discussion is the right of a woman to determine what happens to and in her own body and make her own choices based on that right. Not once in your post did you mention the woman at all (not saying this was by design) but it’s a real problem when discussing this subject. Women are often treated like they and their bodies and body choices are a secondary concern in the discussion. They are the primary concern. It’s their body after all.
@Seamus Mac: no Seamus he is clearly talking about the rights of the most important human beings in the discussion. The women making choices for their own bodies. The majority of the voters in this country also share his opinion (thankfully).
@Conall: if it is a person it should be officially recognised as such in any census
GOOD. High time the God squad in Louisiana got put back in their box
@The Risen: why is that tony?
Excellent! Women’s lives matter.
I’m just here for the comments.
Pity the Law makers over there wouldn’t pass a new Constitutional amendment rather than leave the country to whims of these 9 people.
@Ronan McKeon: You need to brush up on how to amend US constitution.
pulling women out of cars and zapping the baby out of them what harm can it do.
@ben: Do what?!
@Ally Collyer: video on Twitter
……
@Ally C
@Ally Collyer: https://twitter.com/eastfeed/status/1276326723995471873
@ben: Well ben, I should hope that that particular incident was a one off! The fact that it should never have happened is neither here not there.
That young woman sadly lost her baby due to that cop’s total incompetence. I hope he lost his job and she sues the pants off the police department.
However, that tweet video has nothing to do with abortion rights/laws in another country.
As a former nurse, I am not totally against legal abortions. I have seen the medical needs for such a decision. Not easy and neither should it be.
I do not agree with abortion as a form of contraceptive!
Believe me when I say that most women do not take the decision to abort lightly. It is better to be upfront and have it legal. Heaven forbid we as a country go back down that dark road of illegal and dangerous back street abortions being carried out. Or for frightened women having to go over to the UK because this country turned its back on them.
@Ally Collyer: life story.
@Ally Collyer: contraceptives prevents pregnancies . Abortion ends them. Glad i wasn’t on your ward.
@Tom Doyle: Contraceptives fail
@Tom Doyle: So you don’t care about the millions of sperm that die in a condom? You monster…
@The Risen: abstinence is 100% effective
@Tom Doyle: why would you have been glad you weren’t on any of my wards? I’ve yet to know of any man to be pregnant, and I’ve nursed a good many men over the years, with no complaints.
@Ally Collyer: Oops, perhaps I should qualify that statement and say that those men had various/varying medical complaints!!
@Seamus Mac: And anybody being 100% abstinent is rare.
@Seamus Mac: Abstinence ISN’T 100% effective ..ever hear of rape ? Try harder
Why is this news in Ireland?
The Murder of human babies will never be morally right.
Abortion is murder
Don’t believe everything you read!
The saddest topic under the sun and as a mother i can completely understand both sides .To the woman who wants to be pregnant its the greatest joy but to one who doesnt the biggest disaster . I hate the word and the idea of it is horrific but sadly its an inevitable fact of life . Its good that so many of the comments are from men and v understanding
have your say