The Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law that restricted abortions in that state, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal justices in the ruling.

The case of June Medical Services v. Russo was over Louisiana’s requirement for doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. A federal court found that the law would leave one abortion provider for the state.

The Supreme Court struck down a similar Texas law in 2016, CNBC reports, leaving some to worry that the court was taking up the issue again with a more conservative majority.

Writing for the liberals on the court, Justice Stephen Breyer ruled the court agreed with a lower court decision “that Louisiana’s law poses a ‘substantial obstacle’ to women seeking an abortion; its determination that the law offers no significant health-related benefits; and its determination that the law consequently imposes an ‘undue burden’ on a woman’s constitutional right to choose to have an abortion.”

Breyer and the three other liberal justices said Louisiana’s law on abortions violated the constitution.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in a concurring opinion, said, “The Louisiana law burdens women seeking previability abortions to the same extent as the Texas law, according to factual findings that are not clearly erroneous. For that reason, I concur in the judgment of the Court that the Louisiana law is unconstitutional.”

This is the first time the current court, which has a majority of justices with judicial records of ruling against abortion rights, has heard an abortion-related case, NPR reports.

During his 2016 campaign, President Donald Trump said he would nominate judges that would overturn the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade that guaranteed women’s access to abortion.

Louisiana passed its Unsafe Abortion Protection Act in 2014, but it’s been blocked from being enforced since it was enacted, CNN reports.

A federal district judge struck down the Louisiana law, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling and said the law could go into effect, according to NPR.

A 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court in February 2019 blocked the law temporarily as the justices considered the case.

The ruling is the third major decision to come out of the Supreme Court in the past two weeks on hot-button social issues. The court ruled last week that employers could not fire someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The court also stopped the Trump Administration from ending the DACA program, which gives legal status to immigrants brought to the United States as children. That ruling has been seen as a blow to the president who promised to end DACA in his 2016 campaign.

Another issue in today’s ruling was whether abortion providers can even sue the state over the law. Louisiana questioned if June Medical Service has what’s called “third party standing,” according to ABC News. That concept would allow doctors to sue on behalf of those who’s rights are impacted, in this case, their patients.

Attorneys for June Medical Services argued that the law regulates doctors, not their patients, so the doctors do have the right to sue over the law, ABC News reports.

Source: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/national/article243757837.html?fbclid=IwAR0E8vQUqJYqxqGsWumgnarzxxhLqnUuoPk_l2VuQBMska4j9xXNxcBYG2Q