Texas Abortion Providers Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

Pro-choice activists stage a protest at the Capitol following the 5th Circuit decision. (by Photo by Mary Tuma)

After last week’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that immediately enforced Texas abortion law House Bill 2 – leaving just eight clinics in the state – plaintiffs representing abortion providers have now turned to the U.S. Supreme Court for relief.

On Monday, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed an emergency application with the high court to reinstate a federal judge’s injunction blocking a portion of HB 2 from taking effect. U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel’s August ruling found HB 2 unconstitutional and delayed implementation of the final provision. However, a three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit subsequently struck Yeakel’s ruling.

The rights of abortion providers and their patients will be “seriously and irreparably injured by the stay,” the application reads.

“As a result, many women’s constitutional rights will be extinguished before the appellate process runs its course, and their lives will be permanently and profoundly altered by the denial of abortion services,” write plaintiffs. “As explained above, Texas women will also face increased health risks as a result of the significant reduction in the availability of abortion services.”

Nancy Northup, CRR president and CEO, said the application is meant to end the law’s “irreparable and unjustifiable harm to Texas women.”

“There can be no question that just a handful of clinics left to offer safe, legal abortion care to all women across the vast state of Texas is a dire emergency in need of an immediate response,” said Northup in a statement. “Every hour that these clinics are closed adds to the number of women, many facing urgent circumstances, who will be denied essential care and their constitutional rights. Every day that passes increases the likelihood that these shuttered clinics will never be able to open again.

The HB 2 case challenges two provisions of the law — the requirement that clinics spend up to $3 million to comply with the same building standards as ambulatory surgical centers, and a rule – as it applies to two recently closed clinics in underserved communities, the Whole Woman's Health Clinic of McAllen and Reproductive Services of El Paso – that forces physicians to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where any procedure is performed.

Read CRR’s application to SCOTUS here