Pro-choice activists in El Paso rejoiced Monday, following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow 10 clinics in Texas to remain open.
“Being able to keep our local clinics open is obviously an incredible victory for us,” said Lyda Ness-Garcia with Stand with El Paso Women.
“This is 25 years of Supreme Court law that needs to be upheld here and if you close these clinics down, it effectively bars women’s access to reproductive health and reproductive choices,” Ness-Garcia.
Among those pleased with Monday’s ruling is Hilltop Women’s Reproductive Clinic, the only one in the Sun City to perform abortions.
“It’s a good day for women,” Gloria Martinez, with Hilltop.
Ten of the 19 clinics in the state would have had to close on Wednesday, for not meeting hospital-like standards, because on June 9, a court of appeals denied a request by abortion providers to delay enforcement.
The clinics then appealed to the supreme court resulting in today’s ruling…
“I had already told the girls and everybody here in the office that we’re just going to have to start sending everybody .. all our patients up to the Santa Teresa clinic and we’re all going to have to be going out there now and [referring patients there] because we cannot break the law,” Martinez said.
One pro life group says they’re not surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision. They say restrictions on abortions won’t help put an end to them.
“Age restrictions, closing the clinics, or hospital admission privileges or anything you want. It’s not going to work. It’s going to take those people standing up and just saying enough is enough,” said Jeff Jefferson, former director of the Abolitionist Society of El Paso.
Governor Greg Abbott also expressed his disapproval saying:
“HB-2 was a constitutional exercise of Texas’ lawmaking authority that was correctly and unanimously upheld by the fifth circuit court of appeals. Texas will continue to fight for higher-quality healthcare standards for women while protecting our most vulnerable – the unborn, and I’m confident the supreme court will ultimately uphold this law.”
(Information from ElPasoProud.com)
