SCOTUS strikes down Texas abortion restrictions

In a win for pro-choice advocates, the Supreme Court on Monday struck down two parts of a Texas law restricting abortion clinics. The provisions in question were a requirement that abortion facilities meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, and a second mandate that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The justices ruled 5-3 that the Texas law violates the Constitution by placing an "undue burden" on women's right to abortion.

Women's groups said that the restrictions would have caused "more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to shut down," NBC News reports. The number of clinics in the state has already dropped from 42 to 19 since the law was passed in 2013, and would have likely dropped to just 10 if law had been upheld.

The state of Texas argued that the law was enacted to "ensure patient safety and raise standards of care."

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