Why You Should Absolutely Care About the Recent Supreme Court Abortion Rulings

Your sister, your co-worker, your friend, maybe even your mom — chances are you know someone who has had an abortion, given that three in 10 women will undergo the procedure before age 45.

That's what makes the Supreme Court's recent abortion rulings so crucial for women's rights across the country. On Monday, the justices ruled 5 to 3 that a Texas bill (HB2) restricting abortion access was unconstitutional after it forced more than half of the abortion clinics in the state to close. And today, SCOTUS refused to hear cases involving similar laws in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

While the Supreme Court decision in Texas doesn't automatically block or overturn comparable laws in other states, it provides a precedent that will be extremely difficult to argue against in court, much to the relief of pro-choice advocates across the country.

The Supreme Court has sent a clear message: we unapologetically support a woman's reproductive rights.

What was the Texas bill that was struck down?

HB2, as it's commonly called, passed in 2013 and was two-fold: one restriction demanded abortion providers have privileges at local hospitals that let them admit abortion patients in cases of emergency. These privileges are often hard to obtain — hospitals don't want to grant privileges either because they're afraid to get involved in the abortion debate or because they don't think doctors will admit enough patients to give them business.

Another stipulation of HB2 required abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. For instance, some rules said clinics must have hallways wide enough to let gurneys pass through while others demanded what type of grass may be planted outside the clinic.

Supporters of these restrictions argued they would improve the safety of women, but reputable medical organizations said they were unnecessary since abortions are so safe; numbers show there's a less than 0.3 percent risk of a major complication following an abortion that might require hospital care.

Writing for the majority in the Supreme Court case, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said, "The surgical center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so."

Mississippi and Wisconsin pushed for similar admitting-privileges laws, which were were put on hold by lower courts. The states tried to appeal that decision by taking it to the Supreme Court, but by refusing to hear their cases today, the justices permanently blocked the law in both states.

What does it mean for other states?

Aside from Texas, 13 states require that abortion doctors have admitting privileges or some affiliation with a local hospital, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Twenty-two states have requirements that are similar or the same as the ambulatory surgical center laws.

Some of these states, like Arkansas and Kansas, have had the laws put on hold after being challenged in courts — they will likely be permanently shot down since the Texas Supreme Court decision will be used as a precedent to show that the restrictions cause a burden to women seeking abortions. Other states might give up their fight altogether; today in Alabama, for instance, the attorney general announced that in light of the Supreme Court decision, his office will dismiss its appeal of a lower court ruling that said Alabama's admitting-privilege law was unconstitutional even though he doesn't agree with it.

"There is no good faith argument that Alabama's law remains constitutional in light of the Supreme Court ruling," said Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, according to local station WHNT19. "Accordingly, my office will dismiss our appeal of a 2014 federal court ruling declaring Alabama's abortion clinic law unconstitutional."

How does this affect women across the country?

With these decisions, the Supreme Court is taking steps to make abortion just as practical as it theoretical. Since 1973, states have collectively passed 1,074 abortion restrictions, 288 of them since 2010 when Republicans took over Congress. This has made the procedure extremely difficult to obtain for many women, especially minorities and the poor.

It's no coincidence that all of the women sitting on the court — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan — voted against the Texas restrictions. In her opinion, Justice Ginsburg issued a statement that will likely go down in history books.

After saying that abortions can be compared to common procedures like dental surgery, colonoscopies, and childbirth, she wrote, "Given those realities, it is beyond rational belief that HB2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law 'would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions.' When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners . . . at great risk to their health and safety." (Indeed, a recent report found that women in Texas were heading to Mexico, where it was easier for them to get abortion pills.)

Many pro-choice advocates applauded the Supreme Court's Texas decision but said the fight for women's abortion rights isn't over given the remaining restrictions.

"While this decision will help with the barriers in Texas and gives a solid precedent to strike down similar laws in other states as unconstitutional, there are still many politically-motivated, medically unnecessary barriers to accessing abortion care throughout the US," wrote National Abortion Federation President Vicki Saporta in an email. "Waiting periods requiring multiple medically unnecessary trips to the clinic, funding bans that prevent public and private health insurance from covering abortion care, and ideological laws banning safe methods are still being used by politicians to insert themselves between women and their healthcare providers."

Read more about those abortion restrictions across the country and how they affect women here.