ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Center for Reproductive Rights in Court to Challenge Law That Prevents Women from Obtaining Abortion Care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Robyn Shepherd, ACLU national, 212-519-7829 or 549-2666; [email protected]
Tom Hargis, ACLU of Texas, 832-291-4776; [email protected]
Jennifer Miller, Center for Reproductive Rights, 917-596-2584; [email protected]
Planned Parenthood Media Office, 212-261-4433; [email protected]
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit heard arguments today in a challenge to a Texas law that has forced approximately one-third of the health care centers that provide abortion to cease providing those services, leaving large parts of the state without an abortion provider. The lawsuit was filed in September 2013 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of more than a dozen women’s health care providers.
“This law is one of the worst in a disturbing trend of politicians nationwide trying to prevent women from accessing safe and legal abortion,” said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “It is having a devastating effect on women in Texas, and it must be blocked.”
One of the provisions being challenged requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility where they provide abortion services, a requirement that is impossible for many to meet. Major medical organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have said that the law does not improve patient safety but instead harms women by shutting down abortion providers throughout the state. No other medical professionals are required to have admitting privileges.
“From the start, it has been clear this law was politically motivated and harmed the well-being of women and their families,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. “That’s why the people of Texas never wanted it to begin with. It severely limits women’s medical options, rather than protecting women’s health. We hope that the court will strike it down.”
Other similar laws have been blocked in Alabama, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Mississippi.
For more information on this case, please visit: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/planned-parenthood-v-abbott
