US Supreme Court said it will decide the fate of a Louisiana law that women's groups said would leave only a single doctor to perform abortions in the entire state.
By a 5-4 vote in February, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the measure, agreeing with the challengers that it should remain on hold while the justices decided whether to hear and decide the case. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberals in approving the stay request.
The challengers said the law was identical to a requirement in Texas that the Supreme Court struck down three years ago. In that 2016 ruling, the court said Texas imposed an obstacle for women seeking access to abortion services without providing them any medical benefits. Kennedy joined the majority in that case, but supporters of abortion rights fear that Kavanaugh will not be the ally that Kennedy was.
A federal district court judge ruled in 2017 that the law was likely unconstitutional and issued a stay, blocking its enforcement. But a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to lift the stay. In a 2-1 ruling, the court said Louisiana's law would present far less of an obstacle than the Texas law would have. Less than one third of Louisiana women seeking an abortion would face even the potential of longer wait times, the court said.
“It’s no accident that on the anniversary of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, the anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court is taking up a case challenging our fundamental reproductive freedoms. This is their playbook: stack the federal bench with anti-choice judges to gut reproductive rights," Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said.
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