Vol. 80/No. 6 February 15, 2016
Texas rally challenges law restricting abortion access
The Texas law, known as HB2, is one of hundreds that have been passed in recent years designed to force abortion providers to close through “deceptive, medically unnecessary regulations, such as saying a clinic has to meet the standards of an ambulatory surgical center,” said Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, in a phone interview Feb. 1.
Since 2013 more than half of the over 40 facilities that provided abortions in Texas have closed. If the Supreme Court upholds Texas’ restrictions on abortion, only 10 will be able to remain open, making it harder for working-class and rural women to have access to the procedure.
Rallies and other actions will take place across Texas Feb. 5-12 to “amplify the voices of women on the impact that lack of access to abortion has, and demonstrate the support that exists for the right to choose,” Busby said. Supporters of women’s rights will rally on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., when the court hears oral arguments in the case.
On Jan. 22 a 7-7 split vote in the Kansas Court of Appeals let stand a lower court ruling blocking a state law that would have banned the most common second-trimester abortion procedure. A similar ban in Oklahoma was blocked by courts there last year. Both rulings held the restrictions violated their state’s constitution.
In January the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from officials in North Dakota and Arkansas trying to revive laws that would ban abortions as early as six to 12 weeks of pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Under the reasoning of Roe v. Wade and subsequent Supreme court rulings, states cannot ban abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, but can regulate access after that on grounds of protecting a woman’s health. States can ban abortions after “viability,” when the fetus can survive outside the womb. Under the Supreme Court decision, that was considered to be after 24 weeks of pregnancy, but several state governments, including Texas, now ban abortions after 20 weeks.
On Jan. 25 a Houston grand jury indicted two opponents of abortion rights who secretly recorded, and then selectively edited, videos they claimed showed that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a criminal investigation of Planned Parenthood in July based on the videos released by the cynically named Center for Medical Progress, organized by abortion opponent David Daleiden.
The grand jury found no illegal conduct by Planned Parenthood. Instead, it filed felony charges of “tampering with a governmental record” against Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, alleging they used fake driver’s licenses to pose as representatives of a fake company trying to obtain tissue donations for medical research. Daleiden was also indicted for making an illegal “offer to buy human organs, namely fetal tissue” as part of his attempt to entrap Planned Parenthood.
Even though investigations in Texas and 11 other states have found no evidence of any illegal act by any Planned Parenthood affiliate, opponents of women’s rights have taken advantage of the cavalier tone of some of the doctors and administrators Daleiden recorded to make headway in their anti-abortion campaign. Officials in Texas and elsewhere have used the videos as an excuse to cut off funding for all health care services provided by Planned Parenthood, including birth control and HIV testing.
Related articles:
Protest in Nebraska defends abortion rights
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