At Mother Jones, Becca Andrews points out in a report published today that the fight over abortion clinics in the Lone Star State is far from over, regardless of the Supreme Court’s 5-3 ruling in the Hellerstedt case. That ruling was rightly cheered as a serious setback for the forced-birther crowd, since it gives some welcome clarity to what counts as an “undue burden” when it comes to abortion restrictions—as well as a hint of the Court’s future direction in the matter.
But the forced-birthers are not giving up. And while the ruling may mean a few abortion clinics that shut down because of the Texas law will reopen, that’s a costly prospect. Here’s Andrews:
Despite the historic victory, major barriers remain for clinic owners in Texas. Those that plan to reopen after being shuttered by the regulations have a long, expensive road ahead: The space they once occupied has likely been lost and costly alternatives must conform to code. They must also hire a team of qualified physicians and nurses, purchase the necessary equipment, work through what appears to be increasingly complicated red tape from state regulators, and function in a state with a history of hostility towards abortion providers.
The closure of clinics in Texas was already a problem years before HB 2 passed. Amy Hagstrom Miller, who owns Whole Woman's Health, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, told Mother Jones she remembers a time prior to 2008 when the passage of abortion restrictions became a regular feature in the state legislature. Then there were between 60 and 70 clinics throughout the state. By 2013 there were 40, and the law shuttered more than half of them. When the Supreme Court got involved, only 19 remained open, and there was a massive swath from San Antonio to El Paso without a single clinic.
Getting a clinic license can cost more than $5,000, and the fee is nonrefundable. That might not be so bad, but Heather Busby, executive director at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, says that equipment has to purchased, staff hired, space rented. "It's not like you get licensed and then you staff up and buy equipment," she told Andrews. “You have to do all those things first."
One of the most obnoxious factors is how the state health department has played politics unbecoming what is supposed to be an impartial regulatory body. It has withheld or skewed statistics on abortion, trying falsely to show that there wasn’t a drop in abortions after the Texas law shuttered so many clinics.
The department requires abortion providers to give each woman they see a brochure, titled "A Woman's Right to Know.” It includes highly disputed claims or flat-out lies, like fetal pain begins at 20 weeks, and women who get abortions are at a higher risk of breast cancer.
The brochure also notes that a medication abortion—that is, by means of one or two pills—requires several trips to the doctor. That’s only because Texas law requires it, not because this is actually medically necessary. The protocol being enforced for medication abortions is, in fact, contrary to best practice.
Naturally, as we’ve come to learn after four decades of attacks on women’s reproductive rights, this particular rule has zero to do with a woman’s health and everything to do with the forced-birthers’ twisted, lying crusade to shut down as many clinics as possible. The more aggressive approach to protecting women’s rights in this matter that we have seen lately from Planned Parenthood is a welcome factor in reversing such laws—in Texas and other states. Relentlessness is the forced-birthers key strategy. It should be ours as well.