A US federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Texas could begin enforcing restrictions on abortion clinics that critics of the rules say would force all except seven of the facilities in the state to shut down.
A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans ruled that Texas could enforce a requirement that clinics have certain hospital-like settings for surgeries while the court considers the constitutionality of last year’s state law.
A lower court in August ruled that the “ambulatory surgical center requirement” was unconstitutional, finding that it placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions.
Texas officials appealed that ruling.
Abortion rights advocates, who have said that the requirement would leave almost 1 million Texas women of reproductive age at least 241km from an abortion clinic, were critical of Thursday’s ruling.
“This is a devastating day for Texas women,” American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Jennifer Dalven said in a statement. “The court’s decision ignores the medical experts who have recognized that these laws hurt women, not help them.”
Supporters of the law, who say the rules would reduce post-procedure complications and improve patient care, applauded the ruling.
“This 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 office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, which is defending the law, said in a statement.
Abbott, a Republican, is running for state governor against Democrat Wendy Davis, a state senator who vaulted to national prominence after mounting an 11-hour filibuster in an unsuccessful effort to kill the measure.
Under the newly enforceable regulations, Texas clinics must meet a set of building standards ranging from widening halls to having facilities for certain surgeries that abortion rights advocates say are unnecessary, especially when an abortion is medically induced.
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