Speaker 1: A divided US Supreme Court struck down Texas abortion restrictions
Speaker 1: that had threatened to close three quarters of the state's
Speaker 1: clinics by putting new requirements on facilities and doctors. The
Speaker 1: five three ruling is the Court's first abortion decision in
Speaker 1: nearly a decade. Joining us now to discuss the ramifications
Speaker 1: of this vote and what it means moving forward is
Speaker 1: Kimberly Robinson. She's Supreme Court report reporter for Bloomberg be
Speaker 1: An a based in the Washington metro area. Kimberly, welcome
Speaker 1: to the show for having me, so tell us exactly
Speaker 1: what this decision means. Well, the decision here means that
Speaker 1: the states that are looking to enact abortion regulations will
Speaker 1: face strict, strict standards um from courts that are looking
Speaker 1: at those regulations going forward. So the case here involved
Speaker 1: to Texas regulations that the states that were intended to
Speaker 1: make a boys safer for women um and in particular,
Speaker 1: these regulations require doctors to obtain admitting privileges at nearby
Speaker 1: hospitals and required abortion facilities themselves UM to comply with
Speaker 1: some stretty, pretty strict standards that are applicable to other
Speaker 1: outpatient curgical centers. So what were the legal aspects? What
Speaker 1: was it? What was it the crux of the argument
Speaker 1: that they had to decide. Well, so, as I mentioned this,
Speaker 1: the States said that, you know, these regulations are really
Speaker 1: meant to ensure that abortions are safe for women. But
Speaker 1: the challengers here said that that wasn't really the intention
Speaker 1: of these laws at all, that in fact, these laws
Speaker 1: were intended to limit access to abortion for the more
Speaker 1: than five million Texas women who are a child bearing age.
Speaker 1: They noted that there were forty abortion clinics serving uh
Speaker 1: those five million women before these regulations went into place.
Speaker 1: But if both of these regulations were found to be
Speaker 1: valid and did go into place, then Texas will be
Speaker 1: left with just seven or eight clinics um to service
Speaker 1: all of those women. Now you note or we note
Speaker 1: our story that abortion rights advocates called the case the
Speaker 1: biggest since when the Court reaffirmed the constitutional right to
Speaker 1: end a pregnancy. Uh, what does it mean? Now? Are
Speaker 1: lots of laws going to be challenged? What does it mean? Well,
Speaker 1: there are similar laws in other states, and the course
Speaker 1: broad language means that those laws are likely unconstitutional. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that states may not enact more abortion regulations.
Speaker 1: But it does mean that courts are going to take
Speaker 1: a very close look at these regulations. So it was
Speaker 1: an unclear question before today's decision, you know, whether the
Speaker 1: states would really have to prove the benefits that they
Speaker 1: that they were claiming these regulations would have, or whether
Speaker 1: courts would just kind of take the legislatures at their word. Today,
Speaker 1: in a five three decision by Justice Bryer on the
Speaker 1: Court made clear that courts are going to look at
Speaker 1: the evidence of the benefits and if they're not there,
Speaker 1: then they're they're going to still those regulations that are
Speaker 1: going to fall Comblie Robinson, thank you so very much
Speaker 1: for joining US Supreme Court. Reporter for Bloomberg be An
Speaker 1: a based in Arlington, Virginia,