WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court deeply split over abortion wrestled Wednesday with widely replicated Texas regulations that could drastically cut the number of abortion clinics in the state. As ever, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the outcome in his hands on a court operating with eight justices since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The court’s most significant abortion case since the early 1990s crackled with intensity during 85 minutes of pointed questions from liberal and conservative justices that suggested little common ground in resolving the clinics’ claim that the regulations are medically unnecessary and unconstitutionally limit a woman’s right to an abortion.
Texas says it is trying to protect women’s health in rules that require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and force clinics to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery. The rules would cut the number of abortion clinics in the state by three-fourths, abortion providers say.
The three women justices and Justice Stephen Breyer repeatedly questioned why Texas needed to enact the 2013 law. “What is the legitimate interest in protecting their health? What evidence is there that under the prior law, the prior law was not sufficiently protective of the women’s health?” Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller.
If the court is evenly divided, the justices could decide to rehear the case once a new colleague joins them.
A decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, 15-274, is expected by late June.
