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| Louisiana appeals court ruling threatens to close all but one abortion clinic | Louisiana appeals court ruling threatens to close all but one abortion clinic |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| On the eve of arguments in the biggest abortion case to reach the supreme court in decades, a lower court has crystalized the stakes with a decision that could permanently shut down all but one abortion clinic in Louisiana unless the high court rules otherwise. | On the eve of arguments in the biggest abortion case to reach the supreme court in decades, a lower court has crystalized the stakes with a decision that could permanently shut down all but one abortion clinic in Louisiana unless the high court rules otherwise. |
| The decision, by the fifth circuit US court of appeals, allows a Louisiana law to take effect that requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles. In doing so, the court blocked a federal judge’s earlier ruling that found the admitting privileges unconstitutional. | The decision, by the fifth circuit US court of appeals, allows a Louisiana law to take effect that requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles. In doing so, the court blocked a federal judge’s earlier ruling that found the admitting privileges unconstitutional. |
| Related: Quarter of US abortion clinics have closed over last five years, report says | Related: Quarter of US abortion clinics have closed over last five years, report says |
| Overnight, the ruling plunged Louisiana’s four abortion clinics into chaos. All clinics reported being swamped by phone calls. Two clinics, in Bossier City and Baton Rouge, put all procedures on hold and referred patients to facilities in Shreveport and New Orleans. | |
| The Baton Rouge clinic is a 90-minute drive from the next closest abortion provider. The Bossier City clinic was refusing to schedule future procedures. “We’re watching a nightmare unfold,” said Rochelle Tafolla, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast. | |
| Another Planned Parenthood spokeswoman noted that the only abortion facility in New Orleans was already overloaded due to the closure of another clinic in the city several weeks ago. | |
| Tafolla said the tumult recalled the situation in Texas two years ago, when a similar law slashed the state’s clinics by half. | |
| Hope Medical Group of Shreveport, which is the only clinic in Louisiana with the capability to remain permanently open under the new law, has already felt the reverberations of those closures in Texas. The clinic lies just a few miles from the Texas border. From 2011 to 2014, when Texas’s law went into effect, the number of patients traveling to Hope Medical Group from Texas leapt from 15% to 23%. | |
| “It is impossible for one to two physicians to provide services for all the women in Louisiana in need of abortion care,” Kathaleen Pittman, a spokeswoman for Hope Medical Group, said. | |
| The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents three clinics and their doctors, said it would ask the supreme court to stay the appellate court’s decision. | The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents three clinics and their doctors, said it would ask the supreme court to stay the appellate court’s decision. |
| But any stay would be short lived. On 2 March, the supreme court will hear arguments in a major abortion case that could uphold the fifth circuit’s ruling or overturn Louisiana’s admitting privileges law for good. | But any stay would be short lived. On 2 March, the supreme court will hear arguments in a major abortion case that could uphold the fifth circuit’s ruling or overturn Louisiana’s admitting privileges law for good. |
| That case concerns a Texas law that not only requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges, but also requires abortion clinics to be licensed like outpatient surgery centers. A robust decision striking down Texas’s law could also have the effect of striking down Louisiana’s. But a 4-4 split among the remaining justices, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, would allow the fifth circuit’s ruling in Louisiana to go into effect. | That case concerns a Texas law that not only requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges, but also requires abortion clinics to be licensed like outpatient surgery centers. A robust decision striking down Texas’s law could also have the effect of striking down Louisiana’s. But a 4-4 split among the remaining justices, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, would allow the fifth circuit’s ruling in Louisiana to go into effect. |
| US district judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge last month barred Louisiana officials from enforcing the mandate. DeGravelles has not yet ruled on the state’s abortion law itself, though he heard arguments about it in June. | US district judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge last month barred Louisiana officials from enforcing the mandate. DeGravelles has not yet ruled on the state’s abortion law itself, though he heard arguments about it in June. |
| Supporters say the law’s provision requiring admitting privileges at area hospitals is meant to protect women’s health. Opponents say it’s meant to make it essentially impossible for women to get abortions and would do just that. | Supporters say the law’s provision requiring admitting privileges at area hospitals is meant to protect women’s health. Opponents say it’s meant to make it essentially impossible for women to get abortions and would do just that. |
| “Today’s ruling thrusts Louisiana into a reproductive healthcare crisis, where women will face limited safe and legal options when they’ve made the decision to end a pregnancy,” Nancy Northup, the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. | “Today’s ruling thrusts Louisiana into a reproductive healthcare crisis, where women will face limited safe and legal options when they’ve made the decision to end a pregnancy,” Nancy Northup, the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. |
| The three-judge appellate panel disagreed and disputed whether clinics would be forced to close. | The three-judge appellate panel disagreed and disputed whether clinics would be forced to close. |
| The panel’s opinion, written by US circuit judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, also disputed DeGravelles’ analysis that the law “deprives 99% of Louisiana women of access to an abortion”. | The panel’s opinion, written by US circuit judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, also disputed DeGravelles’ analysis that the law “deprives 99% of Louisiana women of access to an abortion”. |
| Related: Texas is defunding Planned Parenthood clinics. What if every state did? | |
| “Louisiana is likely to succeed in showing that these calculations are neither sufficient nor sufficiently reliable for Plaintiffs to establish an undue burden on a large fraction of Louisiana women,” Elrod wrote. | “Louisiana is likely to succeed in showing that these calculations are neither sufficient nor sufficiently reliable for Plaintiffs to establish an undue burden on a large fraction of Louisiana women,” Elrod wrote. |
| In the ruling, Elrod also noted that the fifth circuit has upheld similar requirements for admitting privileges and rebuked the plaintiffs for failing “to grapple with this court’s prior precedent” in their arguments. | In the ruling, Elrod also noted that the fifth circuit has upheld similar requirements for admitting privileges and rebuked the plaintiffs for failing “to grapple with this court’s prior precedent” in their arguments. |
| “When a similar law passed in Texas, women were forced to drive hundreds of miles, leave the state, or take matters into their own hands,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a news release. “It is irresponsible to allow this medically unnecessary restriction to go into effect less than a week before the Supreme Court will consider whether this type of law is even constitutional.” | “When a similar law passed in Texas, women were forced to drive hundreds of miles, leave the state, or take matters into their own hands,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a news release. “It is irresponsible to allow this medically unnecessary restriction to go into effect less than a week before the Supreme Court will consider whether this type of law is even constitutional.” |
| Louisiana’s attorney general, Jeff Landry, praised the ruling and said in a statement that it allows “Louisiana’s pro-life and pro-woman admitting privileges law to go into effect”. He called the law “a reasonable, common-sense safety measure”. | Louisiana’s attorney general, Jeff Landry, praised the ruling and said in a statement that it allows “Louisiana’s pro-life and pro-woman admitting privileges law to go into effect”. He called the law “a reasonable, common-sense safety measure”. |
| “Anyone who has outpatient surgery would expect her doctor to admit her to a hospital in the event of complications; women seeking abortions should have the same assurance of prompt care,” Landry said. | “Anyone who has outpatient surgery would expect her doctor to admit her to a hospital in the event of complications; women seeking abortions should have the same assurance of prompt care,” Landry said. |
| Northup countered that abortion “is extremely safe” and that getting admitting privileges at hospitals “can be very difficult” because of “hospital policies or biases against abortion providers”. | Northup countered that abortion “is extremely safe” and that getting admitting privileges at hospitals “can be very difficult” because of “hospital policies or biases against abortion providers”. |
| The lawsuit contends that Louisiana does not require doctors performing procedures other than abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. “Physicians perform similar, and often higher risk, outpatient procedures in their offices without admitting privileges,” it says. | The lawsuit contends that Louisiana does not require doctors performing procedures other than abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. “Physicians perform similar, and often higher risk, outpatient procedures in their offices without admitting privileges,” it says. |
| Louisiana’s law is among hundreds of abortion restrictions passed across the country in recent years. | Louisiana’s law is among hundreds of abortion restrictions passed across the country in recent years. |