WASHINGTON: In a landmark ruling on Monday, the US Supreme Court threw out a 2013 Texas state law that imposed crippling restrictions on abortion clinics, shutting down many of them.
The apex court’s ruling, described as a major victory for abortion rights advocates, makes similar restrictions placed on clinics in other states unconstitutional.
The 2013 Texas law, passed by a Republican-led state legislature and signed by a Republican governor, required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals.
It also demanded abortion clinics should meet hospital-like surgical standards.
Together, abortion advocates argued, these requirements made it impossible for abortion clinics to survive, and many of them shut down.
The court struck down the law in a 5-3 verdict.