The Supreme Court of the United States overturned on Monday a very restrictive Louisiana law on abortion which had the value of a test for the high court deeply revised by Donald Trump. The text, adopted in 2014, aimed to oblige doctors performing abortions to obtain a license to practice in a hospital located less than 50 kilometers from the place of the intervention. The aim was to protect women in the event of complications and to ensure "continuity of care", argued its promoters.
But for defenders of the right of women to terminate their pregnancy, the law would have closed two of the three establishments performing abortions in Louisiana. Beyond the local issue, the record was seen as a barometer of the Supreme Court's determination to uphold its historic 1973 ruling, Roe V. Wade, which recognized the right of Americans to have an abortion.
Still restrictive laws in other states
Louisiana law was indeed almost similar to a Texas text, which the temple of law had invalidated in 2016, deeming it too restrictive. "We have examined the files closely" and the two "are comparable in all respects and impose the same result. Consequently, we judge that the law of Louisiana is unconstitutional ”, decided the Court by a small majority (five judges out of nine).
Chief Justice John Roberts, a moderate conservative, joined his four progressive colleagues in the name of respecting "res judicata". Yet he had supported Texas law in 2016. "I still think it was a bad decision," he wrote in an opinion attached to the decision. The question is not, however, whether the Court was "right or wrong" in 2016 but "whether our judgment is binding on us in the present case," he continued, holding that it was.
"We are relieved that Louisiana law has been blocked," immediately commented the chair of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northup, who represented state clinics. But for her, the fight is not over since many states continue to adopt restrictive laws.
World
The Supreme Court validates the status of 700,000 young migrants, against Trump's opinion
People
Stars celebrate Supreme Court ruling to protect LGBTQI workers' rights
- World
- Ivg
- Supreme Court
- United States
- Abortion