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| US top court strikes down law limiting abortions | US top court strikes down law limiting abortions |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The US Supreme Court has ruled that a law restricting abortions in Louisiana is unconstitutional in a landmark decision. | |
| The law required that doctors providing abortions have admitting privileges to nearby hospitals, which the justices said led to an undue burden on women. | |
| Chief Justice John Roberts joined liberal justices in the 5-4 decision in a blow to anti-abortion groups. | Chief Justice John Roberts joined liberal justices in the 5-4 decision in a blow to anti-abortion groups. |
| The court struck down a similar policy in Texas in 2016, the opinion noted. | The court struck down a similar policy in Texas in 2016, the opinion noted. |
| This is the first major abortion case ruling from the Supreme Court during the Trump presidency. | |
| The 2014 Louisiana law said that doctors must hold privileges at hospitals within 30 miles (48km) of their practice - which the state argued was to protect women's health. | |
| But critics said the controversial law would limit the number of providers in the state, violating a woman's right to an abortion. | |
| What was the case about? | |
| Medical Services vs Russo asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether to uphold a lower court's opinion concerning the Louisiana law. | |
| The law required doctors to have admitting privileges to a hospital "not further than 30 miles from the location at which the abortion is performed or induced" in order to perform abortions. | |
| While the state said the requirement was to protect women's health, pro-choice advocates said that it's incredibly rare for women to face complications from an abortion. They also pointed out that many hospitals in the region are religiously-affiliated or conservative and don't allow abortions to take place in their facilities, which severely limits the number of doctors who can carry out the procedure. | |
| This then, in turn, constitutes an undue burden on a woman's constitutional right to seek an abortion, they said. | |
| However, the 5th Circuit appeals court determined no clinics would "likely be forced to close" because of the law, and allowed it to stand. | |
| The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether that decision violated past precedents and should be struck down. |