The Texas legislature wasted no time in overturning a Federal Judges decision to rule an unnecessary requirement of all abortion Doctors being granted admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles unconstitutional.
On Monday, Oct. 28th, U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel issued a ruling that requiring Doctors to hold admitting privileges at a hospital no less than 30 miles from each clinic "places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her." Hospitals are not required to grant any Doctors admitting privileges and many have requirements attached that prevent abortion doctors from qualifying. Many Doctors who perform abortions in Texas fly in from out of state and seldom admit patients to local hospitals because it is rarely necessary to do so. In the initial decision, Judge Yeakel noted that requiring admitting privileges had no bearing on safety because in the rare event of an emergency, patients will be rushed to the nearest hospital and treated the same way regardless.
The three judge circuit court in New Orleans, cited a Supreme Court statement in an earlier abortion case that if a regulation serves a valid purpose, the fact that it has “the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate it.
But seeing as though the regulation itself does nothing BUT cause undue burden on women seeking abortion services the very core of Roe. V. Wade is being challenged. If Doctors cannot receive admitting privileges because hospitals can deny them without any legitimate reason but at the same time those hospitals must admit any patients that need emergency services due to an abortion complication it's pretty obvious that the regulation is only in place to force abortion clinics to close their doors. How can an entirely needless regulation that in essences slams the door to an accessible abortion for many women NOT create undue burden?
President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America Cecile Richards stated: "This fight is far from over. This restriction clearly violates Texas women's constitutional rights by drastically reducing access to safe and legal abortion statewide."
The admitting privileges law can take full effect "temporarily" until a complete hearing can be held, likely to occur in early January 2014. In the meantime as usual, the effects will be felt by the women- all who deserve the privacy and dignity of making their own decisions about their own bodies and their own lives.
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