A Texas pro-life law that is credited with closing multiple abortion clinics and saving an estimated 9,900 babies from abortion has been upheld in a federal appeals court.
Life News reports House Bill 2 (HB2) requires abortion clinics to meet state safety standards and abortion-performing doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The legislation also bans abortions performed at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later.
Critics of the law argued that the strict regulations caused too many clinics to close their doors, making it difficult for Texas women to find a clinic that could perform abortions.
But the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the legislation that intends to protect pregnant women.
Responding to the ruling, Americans United for the Life CEO Charmaine Yoest said, “Texas has struck a decisive blow for women’s health and safety against a predatory abortion industry. A largely under-monitored, under-supervised, and secretive abortion industry tells women ‘trust but don’t verify that our clinics are clean and safe.’ No longer should women be abandoned to self-serving and false assurances from an industry that puts profits over people.”
Publication date: June 10, 2015