U.S. Abortion Rights Fight

Abortion clinics in the U.S. have closed at a record pace. In five states — Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming — just one remains. Abortion-rights opponents in statehouses have propelled the trend by pushing to legislate the industry out of existence. The U.S. Supreme Court placed limits on that strategy in June when it struck down Texas's particularly burdensome clinic regulations, setting the stage for a reshaping of the legal landscape. Still, given other barriers faced by abortion providers, no one thinks significant numbers of new clinics will open quickly.

In its decision on the Texas law, the Supreme Court rejected the state's argument that it was acting to protect women's health by requiring abortion clinics to meet hospital-like surgical standards and abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Those rules, the court said, were medically unnecessary and imposed an "undue burden" on the constitutional right to abortion. The law would have closed all but 10 or so of Texas’s remaining abortion clinics and left none in the state's western half. It was a case study in the way abortion opponents changed strategies, opting for legislative action over the clinic blockades and violence of the past. Laws aimed at clinics proved more potent than those aimed at patients, such as waiting periods or parental notification requirements. Almost 300 abortion restrictions were enacted since a Republican-led push began in 2011. The Supreme Court decision strengthens the position of abortion-rights supporters in lawsuits contesting regulations passed in the name of protecting women's health. The ruling's impact was immediate: The next day, the high court turned away appeals from Wisconsin and Mississippi to revive their doctor admitting-privilege laws, and Alabama withdrew an appeal to implement its rule. Efforts to overturn abortion rights entirely, through state ballot initiatives giving the unborn the rights of a person, have failed repeatedly.