Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

By Caitlin Moscatello
June 17, 2020

In its first major test on abortion since President Trump appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court is expected to render a decision soon that will signal to state lawmakers how far they can go in restricting abortion access. How the Court comes down on the case could also serve as an indicator of its willingness to dial back reproductive rights going forward.

The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, comes out of Louisiana, but is strikingly similar to a Texas law the Court struck down four years ago in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Both are considered to be the targeted regulation of abortion providers: Known as TRAP laws, they are medically unnecessary abortion restrictions that lawmakers pass under the guise of protecting women’s health.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/supreme-court-case-june-medical-v-russo-may-change-abortion.html


USA – The Supreme Court’s Fictional Middle Ground on Abortion

The Supreme Court’s Fictional Middle Ground on Abortion
There is no such thing.

By Linda Greenhouse, Contributing Opinion Writer
March 12, 2020

Following last week’s argument in a Louisiana abortion case, the consensus among attentive Supreme Court-watchers is that the outcome depends on Chief Justice John Roberts, who seemed not to share Justice Samuel Alito’s visceral dislike of abortion clinics and his deep suspicion of doctors who work in them. I agree.

Further, many of these close observers came away believing that even if the justices rule for Louisiana, they will take neither of the two drastic steps being pressed on the court by the state and its White House ally: to reject four decades of settled law under which doctors can challenge abortion restrictions on their patients’ behalf, or to overturn the 2016 decision that struck down the same admitting-privileges requirement in Texas that Louisiana is now defending.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/opinion/abortion-supreme-court.html


USA – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dominates in abortion case

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dominates in abortion case

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter
Thu March 5, 2020

Washington (CNN)If there is any question whether 86-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has spent her life steeped in issues concerning women's rights, is slowing down after four bouts of cancer, it was not evident Wednesday morning in Washington.

For over an hour, Ginsburg, the leading liberal on the bench, engaged in a high stakes constitutional version of whack-a-mole, taking down arguments put forward by supporters of a Louisiana abortion access law that requires doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-louisiana/index.html


USA – Justices Give Few Hints on How They Will Rule on Louisiana Abortion Law

Justices Give Few Hints on How They Will Rule on Louisiana Abortion Law
The Supreme Court is considering whether Louisiana can require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, in a case likely to yield an unusually telling decision.

By Adam Liptak
March 4, 2020

WASHINGTON — The argument at times sounded like a sterile analysis undertaken by management consultants: What were the benefits of requiring doctors who perform abortions to have relationships with nearby hospitals? Would requiring such relationships force abortion clinics to close?

The questions — about medical regulations, hospital bylaws, travel times and safety records — could seem pedestrian in their granular details. But the cost-benefit analysis undertaken on Wednesday at the Supreme Court illustrated its current approach to the right to abortion, one that seems to turn on contested factual disputes rather than broad constitutional principles.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/supreme-court-abortion.html