Good News for Pro-Choice Texans and the rest of states affected by Draconian abortion clinic regulations. The Supreme Court has granted a stay to allow Texas’s 18 remaining clinics to stay open until it decides whether it will hear testimony on how Texas HB2 puts an undue burden on the ability to obtain a safe, legal abortion. In some of the poorest parts of the state like the border with Mexico, there is no abortion clinic open within half a day’s drive.
The fight to keep abortion access available to those who need it has been long and arduous. Texas Republicans were unable to pass the bill in the regular session of the legislature causing the taxpayers to spend millions more in 2 special summer sessions. The bill was finally passed over heroic efforts by Democrat Wendy Davis to filibuster and thousands of Texans flooding the Capitol building in opposition with a second special session. (Another reason that the Democratic party is definitely not exactly the same as the GOP)
If SCOTUS decides to accept the application and rules in favor of striking down HB2, it will invalidate similar TRAP laws in 44 other states that seek to:
limit the provision of care only to physicians; force practices to convert needlessly into mini-hospitals at great expense; require abortion providers to get admitting privileges; and require facilities to have a transfer agreement with a local hospital (with nothing requiring hospitals to grant such privileges)
Thousands of people have worked long and hard against these unfair regulations that target abortion providers disproportionately over any other medical procedure. It goes without saying that the opposition to choice has been spearheaded by the Religious Right to drive a wedge between voters.
Yeah, we need a freaking reinforcement of Roe v. Wade, so that judges in lower courts will have to strike this crap down, based upon a new, broader Supreme Court decision.
And this isn’t an explicit religious issue, so Kennedy should side with the liberal wing of the court. He only tends to side with the conservative wing on cases extending religious privilege, like with the Hobby Lobby case.
@Narf
What? He’s a Catholic. Abortion is the biggest of religious issues for him, probably, on just that fact alone.
^ You’d think that, but then again, he ruled in favour of same sex marriage and even wrote the majority opinion.
EnlightenmentLiberal: Why would it matter if he is Catholic?
@Holms
Touché.
@Robert Charles
Because official Catholic dogma is abortion is bad, which means it’s a religious issue according to Catholic dogma. I don’t understand your question.
@EnlightenmentLiberal: So you don’t believe in judicial impartiality? Do you think Catholics are lock-step lemmings? Plenty of Catholics have defied the Church, some Kennedys come to mind to start. Maybe the current VP too? He’s Catholic. Short of ‘Christ is Lord and Savior’, I don’t know anything Christians agree on. Catholics use birth control in comparable rates to everyone else despite what the Vatican says. My first girlfriend was Catholic who had Mass on Saturday nights, a blasphemy to most Christians. You don’t see a flaw in your thinking? Matt Dillahunty explains this better than me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfCBj9h2Xk
@Robert
I never said any of those things. I merely objected to the notion that “this isn’t an explicit religious issue”.
Elsewhere, Narf said this:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/axp/2015/06/29/religious-right-ags-blow-gaskets/#comment-611467
I agree to most or all of that. Still, I have to disagree with the simple notion “this isn’t an explicit religious issue”.
PS:
I believe that the mythical perfectly unbiased judge does not exist. However, a lot of religious judges seem to do quite well keeping their religious biases out of their decisions.
PPS:
Where is my preview button? Wonder if my noscript is blocking it. I see the preview button on other blogs here on ftb.