Pro-choice, pro-life advocates prepare for legal battles

Pro-choice advocates thought the law was settled and states were limited in how much they could regulate abortion clinics.

But they found themselves Wednesday back at the Supreme Court, asking the justices to strike down a Louisiana law mandating that clinics have admitting privileges to a local hospital should any complications arise during an abortion.

The high court had ruled against a similar law in Texas in 2016, and in a 5-4 ruling earlier this year, the justices put a hold on Louisiana’s version to allow time for the Center for Reproductive Rights to appeal.

Louisiana’s law is the latest piece of evidence that the legal consensus on abortion that has prevailed over the last quarter century — that it is legal, states can impose some minor restrictions particularly late in a pregnancy and federal taxpayers won’t be asked to fund it — is under assault.

“The stakes in this case are high for the rule of law,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which petitioned the high court to permanently block the Louisiana law.