The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Texas law this month that would close almost all abortion clinics in that state, but Texas is far from alone. Its law is just one of the recent attacks on reproductive freedom across the nation.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett and the General Assembly approved new regulations for abortion clinics in 2011 ostensibly to improve their standards of operation, but with the happy knowledge that the extra rules would make it more expensive to perform abortions and possibly reduce their number. Such laws threaten to reverse decades of progress on reproductive rights.
The Texas law would require abortion clinics and patients to adhere to onerous standards that have little to do with patient health. An abortion clinic would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and to upgrade its equipment and staff. None of this is medically necessary.
If the law is allowed to take effect, it will close all but eight of the state’s roughly 40 abortion clinics. More than a quarter of Texas women of childbearing age would have to drive 100 miles or more to gain access to abortion services.
Anti-choice forces in Texas claim the law will protect women’s health. In fact, it will endanger the health of women who are forced to travel long distances and endure long wait times to get the care they need.
Texas’ law reflects the dismal state of abortion rights nationwide. States have authorized Draconian laws that chip away at the right to choose: mandatory waiting periods, mandatory ultrasounds (which often cost $200 to $300) and bans on abortion coverage in health insurance plans.
Laws that impose prohibitive restrictions on women’s right to a safe and legal abortion aren’t just dangerous and unjustified. They’re unconstitutional. The federal justices should strike down Texas’ law and laws like it, but it’s unclear whether the conservative court will do so.
Voters who care about protecting the right to choose must hold lawmakers accountable. Reproductive freedom is not just a women’s issue, but also a social, economic and even family issue. It’s time that elected officials, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, were reminded that there are consequences for restricting that freedom.
First Published: October 27, 2014, 4:00 a.m.