Supreme Court to Review Louisiana Pro-Life Law Protecting Women’s Health and Safety

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2019
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley
[email protected] 202-223-8073

 Supreme Court to Review Louisiana Pro-life Law Protecting Women’s Health and Safety
SBA List Welcomes Opportunity for the Court to Revisit Hellerstedt

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Louisiana’s pro-life law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. The health and safety law was introduced in 2014 by Democratic State Representative Katrina Jackson and passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities (88-5 in the House and 34-3 in the Senate). The case is June Medical Services L.L.C. v. Gee, No. 18-1323.

The national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) released the following statement in response:

“We are encouraged that the Supreme Court is taking this opportunity to revisit its tragic 2016 Hellerstedt decision that struck down reasonable standards to protect the health and safety of women who undergo abortions,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Just weeks ago, the remains of more than 2,200 unborn children were discovered on the property of late abortionist Ulrich Klopfer, whose history of reckless disregard for vulnerable women and girls, including victims of rape and sexual abuse, got his license revoked. The abortion industry has shown no interest in regulating itself, or defending women from so-called doctors like Klopfer, Kermit Gosnell, James Pendergraft, Steven Chase Brigham, and more. State lawmakers therefore have every right to take action to protect their citizens. We thank our local allies, especially our National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus member State Rep. Katrina Jackson and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry for their perseverance and look forward to the Court’s review.”

A 2016 Marist poll found that 70 percent of Americans want doctors who perform abortions to be required to have hospital admitting privileges, including 71 percent of women, 77 percent of millennials, 78 percent of Latinos, and 71 percent of self-described “pro-choice” Americans.

Background:

  • In 2014, State Representative Katrina Jackson (D), a member of SBA List’s National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus, introduced the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act and then-Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) signed it into law after it passed the legislature with overwhelming majorities.
  • In August 2014, a federal judge blocked the law from going into effect.
  • In April 2017, a federal judge ruled the law as unconstitutional.
  • On September 26, 2018 a panel of the 5th Circuit upheld the law, reversing the district court’s ruling. The 5th Circuit ruling followed a ruling from the 8th  Circuit on September 10, 2018 that reversed a lower court decision against Missouri’s admitting privileges regulation.
  • A Louisiana abortion facility and two abortionists asked the full 5th Circuit to rehear the case (what lawyers call “en banc review”). In January 2019, in a 9-6 vote, the 5th Circuit denied their request.
  • The plaintiffs then requested that the Supreme Court issue an emergency stay to block enforcement of the law, which the Court granted in February 2019.

SBA List is a network of more than 837,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.

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