What’s New and Old in a New Supreme Court Abortion Case

Four years after invalidating a Texas law requiring abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, the Supreme Court is preparing to consider a Louisiana law that would do the same thing. The case is being watched closely for clues as to how the court’s new conservative members approach this old debate. That’s particularly true since Louisiana introduced an argument that if accepted by the court could undermine the ability of health-care providers to challenge new state abortion restrictions nationwide.

Louisiana’s law, enacted in 2014, requires doctors to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the abortion facility. The measure was in effect for a brief period in 2016. Opponents say the law would leave the state with only one clinic, in New Orleans, and just one abortion doctor to serve the 10,000 women who seek to end a pregnancy every year in the state. Supporters of the Louisiana measure, which carries criminal penalties, say the state is trying to protect women from unscrupulous and incompetent abortion providers. They also argue that the plaintiffs -- the director of an abortion clinic and two unidentified doctors -- lack legal standing to challenge the law on behalf of their patients.