Saturday, March 26th, 2016
Stephan: When I was a young man, I lost one dear friend to a back alley abortion, and almost lost another, a lovely woman who survived but could never have children. I was not the father in either instance but it left me with the clear conviction that there must be decent reproductive healthcare, and a woman should have absolute control over her own body, as should a man. If one does not control one's body, at a fundamental level one controls nothing, and is always a serf of the state.
So here is some good news and reproductive healthcare, albeit it may only be temporary. It will depend on the Supreme Court; that's one of the reasons why this election is so important
The exterior of Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery, a reproductive health clinic that would have been affected by hospital admitting privilege requirements struck down by a judge.
Credit:al.com
An Alabama judge has permanently stripped from state law a requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges at local hospitals. (emphasis added)
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued the ruling Friday. He ruled against the state in 2014 in a lawsuit filed by providers, but the latest development extends that decision to all abortion clinics.
In his decision, Thompson said the impact of the law would be enormous. Many of the state’s abortion clinics would close if the law were enforced, he wrote.
“The staff-privileges requirement would make it impossible for a woman to obtain an abortion in much of the State,” he wrote. “It is certain that thousands of women per year–approximately 40 percent of those seeking abortions in the State–would be unduly […]