AMWA applauds landmark Supreme Court decision to uphold abortion rights in Texas

In a landmark 5:3 decision this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas restrictions on abortion clinics were unconstitutional – specifically two requirements:  (1) stand-alone clinics, even those that perform only first-term abortions, must meet the standards of walk-in surgery clinics and (2) doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. These requirements would have placed undue hardship on both the clinics and providers, leading to the closure of many abortion clinics in Texas. The Supreme Court’s decision will not only allow many of the Texas abortion clinics to reopen, but will serve as an example to other states who have enacted similar restrictions on abortion care. Ultimately, it ensures that women in the state of Texas will continue to have access to safe and legal methods of abortion. “This is a very exciting victory for woman and doctors…perhaps the most important case since Roe vs Wade,” stated Dr. Norma Jo Waxman, AMWA Advocacy Chair and women’s health specialist. AMWA celebrates this victory for the reproductive rights of women and hopes for continued reversal of thousands of laws, like HB2 in Texas, enacted over the past decade in states across the US.