Supreme Court strikes down restrictive Louisiana abortion law that would have closed clinics
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The Supreme Court on Monday provided a victory for abortion rights activists, striking down a restrictive Louisiana law that would have left the state with only one abortion clinic.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s liberals in the 5-to-4 decision. It was a blow to conservatives who had hoped for a dramatic change in the court’s abortion jurisprudence in the first such case heard since President Trump’s two conservative appointees joined the bench.
Instead, Roberts said the Louisiana law could not stand given the court’s 2016 decision to overturn a similar Texas law in 2016.
“The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike,” Roberts wrote in concurring with the decision. “The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana’s law cannot stand under our precedents.”
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