Free Republic

The measure would have required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of a clinic. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Louisiana's tough restriction on abortion violates the Constitution, a surprising victory for abortion rights advocates from an increasingly conservative court. The 5-4 decision in which Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the courts liberal justices struck down a law passed by Louisiana's legislature in 2014 that required any doctor offering abortion services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Its enforcement had been blocked by a protracted legal battle. Two Louisiana doctors...

00:00 01:16 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting abortion rights in the case June v. Russo Monday. The court's opinion, led by Justice Stephen Breyer, "found that conditions on admitting privileges common to hospitals throughout the State have made and will continue to make it impossible for abortion providers to obtain conforming privileges for reasons that have nothing to do with the State’s asserted interests in promoting women’s health and safety." The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, called into question the constitutionality of a Louisiana law that mandated abortion clinics have admitting privileges in hospitals within a...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Louisiana's tough restriction on abortion violates the Constitution, a surprising victory for abortion rights advocates from an increasingly conservative court. The 5-4 decision, in which Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court's four more liberal justices, struck down a law passed by Louisiana's legislature in 2014 that required any doctor offering abortion services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Its enforcement had been blocked by a protracted legal battle.