Today’s Decision Protects the Constitutional Rights of Women Across the State of Texas, Particularly Women of Color who Disproportionately Rely on Services of Reproductive Health Clinics
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which involved a challenge to two restrictive provisions of a Texas law (HB2) that required abortion practitioners to have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30 miles radius, and that also required abortion facilities to meet strict ambulatory-surgical-center standards.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision vindicates the rights of people seeking access to the critical services provided by reproductive health centers,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The ruling has particular implications for African-American, Latino and other women of color, who are more likely to rely on the important services provided by abortion centers. The court’s ruling makes clear that states expose themselves to liability when they seek to gut the protections of Roe v. Wade by imposing burdensome and unnecessary restrictions that unfairly deny access to abortion clinics and reproductive health service providers.”
The court’s ruling means that dozens of licensed abortion facilities across the state of Texas can now reopen. Prior to the enactment of H.B. 2, there were more than 40 licensed abortion facilities in Texas, and the number dropped significantly in the wake of the restrictions in this case. As Justice Ginsburg cautions in her concurrence, “[w]hen a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety.”
African-American women in the state of Texas comprise a disproportionate number of those women seeking abortions in Texas. As recently as 2012, approximately 25 percent of the abortions performed in Texas were obtained by black women—though they represent only 13.1 percent of Texas women of reproductive age. In addition, African-American women in Texas are more likely to be uninsured and thus, rely significantly on the wide range of basic health services provided by reproductive health clinics.
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