Schneiderman Led Coalition Of 14 States And District Of Columbia In Filing Amicus Brief Fighting Against Texas Restrictions
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued the following statement in response to today’s ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision striking down Texas’s unconstitutional and disingenuous abortion restrictions is a landmark victory for women’s health and definitively rejects the state of Texas’s spurious claims that their draconian restrictions protected women’s health. This ruling, the most significant abortion decision in a generation, puts states on notice that they cannot adopt restrictions that unduly burden or deny a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. In a concurring opinion, Justice Ginsburg movingly spotlights the women whose desperation in the face of such abortion restrictions would drive them to unlicensed rogue practitioners at great risk to their health and safety. Today marks a decisive step forward in the fight for reproductive freedom, and a turning point away from a period of endless restrictions whose sole purpose is to block women from exercising their right to choose.”
Background
Attorney General Schneiderman led a coalition of 14 states and the District of Columbia in filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate both of these regulations. The amicus brief argued that when a state adopts a burdensome abortion regulation that purports to advance its interest in women’s health, it should be required to demonstrate that the regulation will actually advance that interest. Review under this standard allows states to regulate in the interest of health and safety, while safeguarding a woman’s right to access abortion services from unwarranted and burdensome infringements. The amicus brief additionally argued that each state is responsible for protecting the constitutional rights of persons within its borders, and cannot rely on the availability of services in a neighboring state.
Attorney General Schneiderman’s brief was joined by: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. It was prepared by New York Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood, Deputy Solicitor General Andrea Oser and Senior Assistant Solicitor General Claude Platton.