Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in the United States federal court on Friday to challenge a new Texas law that restricts abortions in the state, according to a news release.
"We're in court today to stop a terrible situation for women in Texas from getting even worse," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America in a statement. "Politicians are interfering with the personal medical decisions of women who already have the least access to birth control and preventive health care. If this law goes into effect, there is no doubt it will end access to safe and legal abortion for many women, leaving some to resort to desperate and dangerous measures. We won't let that happen."
The lawsuit will take effect in October, seeking to challenge and eliminate the requirements abortion doctors must "admitting privileges" to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic, according to the Washington Post. The Texas law also states abortions must take place in "surgical centers," meaning women cannot take abortion medication at home.
"If the medication abortion restrictions and admitting privileges requirement are allowed to take effect on October 29, more than one-third of the state's licensed abortion facilities will be forced to stop offering abortions altogether, eliminating services entirely in Fort Worth, Harlingen, Killeen, Lubbock, McAllen, and Waco," the complaint states. "Other facilities will be forced to decrease the number of abortions they provide."
Planned Parenthood is not alone in their federal court lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed jointly on behalf of the health care providers by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Texas firm George Brothers Kincaid & Horton.
"Any one of these restrictions would have a devastating impact across the state of Texas," said Nancy Northup, president & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. "Together they would be catastrophic, making essential reproductive health care services for many Texans, especially poor and rural women, practically impossible to access. Today's lawsuit is a united strike back against the hostile politicians who have made clear their willingness to sacrifice the constitutional rights, health, and even lives of Texas women in support of their extremist ideological agenda."
Read the full complaint federal complaint here.
