The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on Monday granted a request from abortion clinics in Texas to block restrictions placed on them by a lower court that would have closed down all but a few abortion clinics, until the court decides whether to take the case on appeal, according to CNN.
"The application for stay presented by Justice (Antonin) Scalia and referred to him by the Court is granted and the issuance of the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in case No. 14-50928 is stayed pending the timely filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari," stated the court in the one-page order.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the abortion clinics to stay open pending the decision to hear an appeal over the Texas abortion law, which requires all abortion procedures to be carried out in ambulatory surgical centers.
Justice Anthony Kennedy along with fellow justices - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan - voted in favor of the abortion clinics. Chief Justice John Roberts and three other justices - namely, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito - dissented the stay, according to The Huffington Post.
The plaintiffs, a group of abortion clinics and doctors, claimed that the abortion law imposes restrictions on abortion rights of women by forcing the closure of many clinics. Not more than 10 clinics could meet its requirements, challengers say, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The SCOTUS decision however does not abolish the restrictions - it merely blocks them from going into effect until the court decides whether or not to hear an appeal from the plaintiffs. If the abortion law stays, the rules in Texas will be among the most stringent in the United States.
