Texas judge rules some HB 2 abortion restrictions unconstitutional

Texas Judge Lee Yeakel has just ruled that part of the new Texas law imposing restrictions on abortion is unconstitutional.

A federal judge has struck down a key provision of Texas’ new abortion law, blocking a statute set to go into effect Tuesday that required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, in a 26-page order issued Monday, ruled the admitting privileges requirement is unconstitutional and poses an undue burden on women seeking an abortion.

The statute “does not bear a rational relationship to the legitimate right of the State in preserving and promoting fetal life or a woman’s health and, in any event, places asubstantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her,” Yeakel wrote. “The court concludes that admitting privileges have no rational relationship to improved patient outcomes and hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles of a facility in which a physician provides abortion services.”

It is shameful that evidently, the most important thing for women to be able to obtain abortions, even if it means making abortion less safe for them. It isn’t surprising that Planned Parenthood would feel this way — patient safety isn’t exactly something they’re concerned with — but requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges to a hospital is hardly extreme. Abortion, like any other medical procedure, has risks, especially the further a woman gets into her pregnancy. And as Live Action writer Deanna Candler pointed out, admitting privileges can help to prevent Gosnell-esque butchers from flourishing.

This may be a win for the abortion industry, but it is a loss for Texas women.