Texas Abortion Restrictions Upheld Today

Two years ago the Texas Legislature imposed severe restrictions on obtaining an abortion in Texas. (That was what the Wendy Davis filibuster was about.)  Today, as expected, almost all of the restrictions were upheld by the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  I've seen reports that maybe only six or seven abortion facilities in Texas will be able to remain open if the decision stands. The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed away now from the abortion debate for several years but they might have to get back into it.

But something came back to me. The Fifth Circuit had to determine if the legislature's purpose in enacting the law would withstand constitutional scrutiny.  So they identified the purpose:

Oh, yes. The reason for the restrictive law is because the legislature cared about protecting the health of women.

And then I recalled Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's tweet moments after the bill was passed as he reproduced a graphic of what a pro-choice group feared would happen.

We fought to pass SB5 thru the Senate last night, & this is why! #StandWithTXChildren #txlege pic.twitter.com/fJbQSJur7i

— David Dewhurst (@DavidHDewhurst) June 19, 2013

Edit: How is this post so hard to understand? It's not about pro-life or pro-choice, it's about Texas politics. Dewhurst honestly stated his goal was to eliminate abortion in Texas. But they can't pass a law that says, "no abortions in Texas after 2013" because of Roe v. Wade. Instead, they got creative and tried to outlaw abortion in Texas as much as they thought they could get away with using "women's health" as a ruse.  Did they go so far as to pass a law that says "Every abortion clinic must be within 50 yards of the front entrance of the emergency room of Big Ben Regional Hospital in Alpine, Texas"? No. But, practically speaking, it wasn't far from that. It's a fascinating constitutional question.