The upcoming Supreme Court case Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt will test whether TRAP laws are constitutional. The ruling could force remaining abortion clinics to close in Texas, and it would have huge ramifications for clinics around the nation that are struggling to keep their doors open due to similar local regulations.
Just like their name implies, TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws seek to limit women’s access to abortion services, by restricting the means by which they can legally undergo the process. Texas has one of the strictest abortion shutdown laws on the books, and this Wednesday, March 2, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will not only decide whether women in Texas can feasibly access abortion services, but whether one of the landmark federal cases on abortion rights, Roe v. Wade, will apply to millions of women across the nation.
TRAP laws impose strict requirements which, if unmet, can directly cause an abortion clinic to shut down. These requirements range from insisting that all clinics meet the same standards required of surgical procedure providers, to forcing all janitors’ closets to meet certain height and size restrictions. In Texas, abortion providers must also gain admission privileges to a hospital within a certain mile radius, which is difficult given that currently only 10 clinics remain open that must serve a population of 27 million people, some of whom are in hard-to-reach areas where the nearest hospital is too far to access easily by transport.
These laws are deliberately aimed at preventing clinics from carrying out services.
These laws have been deemed "medically unnecessary" by both the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The landmark Roe v. Wade decision recognized that a woman has a right to privacy and the right to make choices about her own body. By taking away clinics’ ability to perform abortion services, states like Texas are taking medical decisions out of the hands of women and putting them in the hands of government officials.
Dr. Gabriela Lemus, President of Progressive Congress, said, “ The untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has left a depleted court – a court charged with making important decisions about how the laws of this country work. As the Court considers a challenge mounted by Texas abortion clinics against a law that threatens to leave only 10 clinics operating in a state with 5.4 million women of reproductive age, the justices must decide whether the restrictions improve women's health or represent an ‘undue burden’ to their right to an abortion.
“Why does this matter? Because it’s about women’s access to reproductive health care and it’s about contrasts. Women with higher incomes have a better ability to seek out help where it is available. It may be problematic, but it’s not impossible. Women with lower incomes have a much more significant problem. Because women’s reproductive health care and their economic security are inter-linked – and women’s economic security is inter-linked with the future well-being of the nation.”
More than ever, anti-abortion activists are challenging women’s right to choose. We won hard fought battles in the highest court so that women wouldn’t have to undergo such extreme ordeals in order to get access to abortions. The Hellerstedt case could undo decades of decisions and reverse the tide of progress in achieving equal rights for women.
We cannot sit back. We must stand up for women in our country for whom clinics and clinic services are few and far between. We must stand up for low-income women who rely on clinics not just for reproductive services but for basic health services as well. We must stand up for men and women who need a place where they can get reliable screenings for cancers, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases without fear of judgment or intimidation. We need clinics because the right to choose is still regarded as a privilege in some places. No woman should ever be denied access to vital reproductive health services. That is why the Hellerstedt case matters.