Court Allows Louisiana to Enforce Law That Will Shut Down Nearly Every Abortion Clinic in the State
LatestAt a time when abortion clinics are closing at the fastest rate in U.S. history, more are likely about to shut their doors. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday that Louisiana can enforce a law that could shut down three of the four remaining abortion clinics in the state.
The decision comes a week before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the biggest abortion rights case in decades. The law, HB 388, was an omnibus anti-abortion bill signed into law by then-Governor Bobby Jindal and modeled on Texas’ HB 2. Among other things, it would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, which is impossible for many physicians, particularly in rural parts of the state.
Federal courts had blocked the implementation of the law several times, most recently in January, but today the Fifth Circuit—which loves greenlighting any abortion restriction it can find—granted an emergency stay of the lower court’s decision. That means the law can take effect, unless the Supreme Court steps in to stop them.