The Supreme Court today (June 29) struck down a Louisiana abortion law that placed strict limits on abortion access.
The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, involved a law passed in 2014 that required doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
Justice John Roberts was part of the 5-4 majority, citing precedent in concurring with the court’s four more liberal justices.
The Louisiana law is virtually identical to one struck down by the court in 2016, which found that the admitting-privileges law in Texas was medically unnecessary and significantly limited access to abortion.
Disapppointment and frustration
Pro-life advocates expressed frustration and disappointment following the ruling.
Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, defended Louisiana’s abortion law as “placing the most minimal restrictions possible on an abortion industry that insists on laissez-faire for itself and its profits.”
“Nonetheless, we will continue to seek an America where vulnerable persons, including unborn children and their mothers, are seen as precious, not disposable,” said Moore.
“This case was about whether the state has the right to ensure that abortionists who take women’s money also provide for their safety,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement, adding that “I do look forward to the day when the Supreme Court will correct the gross injustice of the Roe v. Wade decision that has led to the killing of tens of millions of unborn babies.”
Support for overturning Roe
Support for rescinding Roe remains strong among evangelical Protestants. Sixty-one percent of them said they wanted to see the court fully overturn the decision in a survey conducted last year by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. That survey found support for overturning Roe at 28% among Catholics and 42% among Protestants generally. (TAB, AP)
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