A case the Supreme Court will soon rule on could gut abortion access in at least 15 states, according to a new analysis. June Medical Services v. Russo centers around a Louisiana abortion law that requires provider at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The Court struck down a similarly restrictive abortion law just 4 years ago in its Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt ruling.
The Fight Over Admitting Privileges for Abortion Providers
This new Supreme Court case originates in Louisiana, where lawmakers passed legislation requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The rule would likely close most, if not all, abortion clinics in Louisiana.
Admitting privileges allow a doctor to admit a patient directly to the hospital, then treat the patient while they are in the hospital. They used to be commonplace, but the advent of hospitalists rendered them unnecessary. Now, the overwhelming majority of medical providers working outside of hospital settings lack admitting privileges. Abortion providers are no exception.
Proponents of admitting privilege laws argue that they improve patient safety. There’s no evidence to support this claim. Patients who experience emergencies at abortion clinics can already go directly to the hospital. Admitting privileges would not change or improve on this fact.
Abortion is about as safe as minor dental procedures, yet lawmakers are not clamoring to require dentists to seek admitting privileges at local hospitals. Abortion is also 14 to 111 times safer than giving birth, depending on the stat where you live. Yet the Republican lawmakers who cry about patient safety have done nothing to slow the maternal mortality epidemic.
What is an Undue Burden?
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that Texas could not force abortion providers to get admitting privileges at local hospitals, stating that it constitutes an undue burden for people who need abortions.
In oral arguments for the current case, Justice John Roberts asked lawyers for the state of Louisiana to distinguish their case from the previous case in Texas. They did not give a clear answer, and were not able to say why their law does not present an undue burden. That doesn’t mean abortion rights are safe; conservative justices on the Court have made it very clear that they want to roll back abortion rights, and may disregard precedent to do so.
Will the Supreme Court Kill Abortion Rights?
With the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, the composition of the Court has changed dramatically in the four years since its ruling in Whole Woman’s Health. The fact that the Court chose to take a case that is substantially similar to a very recent prior case is disconcerting, and suggests abortion is in trouble.
If the Court rules in favor of the state, then any state that wishes to force abortion providers to gain admitting privileges can do so. The process of getting admitting privileges is long and complicated, and hospitals can deny them for any reason—or for no reason at all. Some may refuse such privileges to abortion providers as a matter of principle. The effects could be catastrophic: and end to abortion access in many states, even as abortion remains technically legal.
The Guttmacher Institute reports that at least 15 states are positioned to require admitting privileges if and when the law changes. Five already have admitting privilege laws on the books, so wouldn’t even need to pass legislation.
The results could prove catastrophic. Research shows, over and over, that restricting abortion doesn’t end it. It only makes it less safe. When Texas enacted restrictive abortion laws, eight percent of women attempted to induce their own abortions. Data from the Turnaway Study show that women denied abortions have worse mental health, physical health, and economic prospects. Even men fare worse economically when their partners cannot have abortions.
The United States has the worst maternal mortality rate in the wealthy world, and unlike in other countries, our maternal mortality rate is rising. Unsafe abortion is a leading worldwide cause of maternal deaths. Limiting abortion access kills women. That’s exactly the point—to punish them no matter the social cost.
