The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it would reenter the debate about abortion by reviewing a law that could force more than 75 percent of Texas' abortion clinics to shut down.
The justices will determine whether new restrictions imposed by a state law on abortions clinics and doctors in Texas constitute an "undue burden" on women seeking legal abortions and should be struck down, according to USA Today.
Passed in 2013, the restrictions require clinics providing abortion services to meet the same medical standards as ambulatory surgical centers, and doctors providing abortion services must have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. These tough restrictions threaten to leave the state with about 10 abortion clinics, down from more than 40.
A victory for Texas would boost efforts in at least a dozen states to seek similar limits, including Mississippi, whose sole abortion clinic is in peril due to a similar law, according to NBC News.
Many note however, that regardless of how the court rules, the case is likely to be one of the most important of its kind in 25 years.
"This is really going to be a defining moment for the Supreme Court in terms of whether or not we're going to continue to have the strong core protections that we've been seeing," said Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The result will also help clarify the court's ruling in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, when a divided court determined that upheld a woman's right to abortion while allowing states to impose restrictions so long as they don't classify as an "undue burden," according to The New York Times.
"It's overdue," said Steven Aden, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has submitted briefs on behalf of several states in the legal battle. "The Casey standard is unworkable and was ill-designed to begin with. We have more litigation now over the meaning of the Casey standard than we've ever had."
The justices will hear the case early 2016, and their decision is expected by late June.
