The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a case that challenges a Texas abortion law that could close nine of the state's 19 remaining abortion clinics, which are down from 44 last year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The law, signed by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2013, requires physicians providing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and requires clinics to be up to ambulatory surgery center building standards, according to the report.
Contentious litigation is pending. The Supreme Court has blocked some aspects of the law while the litigation is pending. However, under the law, Texas has already closed more than half of the 44 clinics that operated in 2014, and nine more could shutter if the law is fully implemented, according to the report.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a statement that the Texas law is intended to improve the health and safety conditions of abortion clinics, according to the report. Yet the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating the Texas law does not serve a medical purpose, according to the report.
Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia have implemented similar restrictions, which have been blocked by courts. The fate of those restrictions rests on the decision in the Texas case, according to the report.
The court will hear the case early next year, and a decision is expected by July, according to the report
To read the full report, click here.
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