One third of Texas' abortion clinics will be forced to stop offering their services, after a federal appeals court allowed the state's abortion restrictions to stay in place on Friday.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Thursday night gave Texas the go-ahead to enforce a law that requires doctors to have admitting privileges at hospitals nearby, according to CBS News. Meanwhile, a lawsuit that challenges these restrictions is still being considered, marking this as the first among four cases in other states where constraints were upheld while a suit against them moved forward simultaneously.
The rulings came just three days after District Judge Lee Yeakel deemed the provision a violation of the United States Constitution, saying it had no medical purpose. But the 5th Circuit ruled that the law should be instated, to the praise of its supporters.
"This unanimous decision is a vindication of the careful deliberation by the Texas Legislature to craft a law to protect the health and safety of Texas women," the state's attorney general Greg Abbott told USA Today. He made the emergency appeal to the federal appeals court.
President of the Texas for Life Coalition Kyleen Wright told CBS Radio News that the ruling was a victory for women nationwide.
"Women are entitled to competent doctors," Wright said.
But opponents of the ruling, like spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Sarah Wheat, are worried that women of lower socio-economic status will have issues with the closures, which have already taken hold. Four Planned Parenthood health centers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco and Austin have started getting in contact with patients to inform them that they won't be performing the procedure any longer.
"We definitely think this is an unconstitutional law," Wheat told USA Today. "It has such a direct impact on whether women can access abortion services."
The ruling is not final, and another panel of judges will hear the case in January, CBS News reported. But for now, clinics in the state must follow the order. Doctors in 12 of the 32 clinics in Texas that offer abortion services don't have admitting privileges at hospitals, and therefore won't be able to give pregnancy terminations.
