U.S Supreme Court Overturns Texas Abortion Law

The Supreme Court's decision in Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt sends a clear message: State laws adopted to restrict access to abortion are unconstitutional.

Between 2010-15, state governments adopted over 290 different laws restricting access to abortion. They did this with the hope that the Supreme Court would defer to state's regulations to make it much more difficult for women to have abortions.


The federal district court issued a preliminary injunction, finding that the law likely was unconstitutional as creating an impermissible undue burden on a woman's right to abortion: there was no evidence that it protected women's health (a woman experiencing complications at an abortion facility would be taken to the local emergency room), and there was no need for surgical level facilities.

Indeed, the district court found that the Texas law was adopted with the purpose -- and would have the effect -- of keeping women from having access to abortions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed. The Fifth Circuit said that it is for the state legislature, not the judiciary, to assess whether the law protects women's health.

And now the Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, reversed.
The court stressed that in deciding whether a law imposes an undue burden on abortion, it is for the judiciary to balance the justifications for the restrictions against its effect on the ability of women to have access to abortions.

The court concluded that the Texas law would greatly limit the ability of women in Texas to have access to abortions, without any evidence that the restrictions were necessary to protect women's health.