Another abortion rights disaster has been averted, but the ‘June Medical Services’ case was just one of many laws targeted against providers.
Remember what good news feels like? The Supreme Court ruled Monday against a Louisiana law mandating abortion providers have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals — a policy that could have closed down all of the state’s few abortion clinics.
Since there are so few bright spots these days, I plan on spending some time basking in the unfamiliar glow of a win — but, as NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue put it, “Let’s make sure we’re ready for the next attack.”
Because while the SCOTUS decision is a loss for conservatives — and, boy, are they mad — it won’t necessarily change their tactics that brought us the Louisiana law in the first place.
The law, enacted in 2014, is part of a broad anti-abortion strategy that hinges on so-called targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws — policies that chip away at the ability of abortion providers to remain open. TRAP laws can range from requiring janitor’s closets be a certain size to mandating that clinics operate in far more complicated and expensive facilities than needed. Their goal is more or less the same: to overburden clinics to death.
