Texas abortion law could wind up before Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down key parts of Texas' strict abortion laws on June 27, 2016. When House Bill 2 was first signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, more than half of the state's abortion clinics were forced to shutter. Residents in poorer Texas counties had a long ways to go if they sought reproductive care. We've compiled a list of the counties with the lowest median household income in the state and their distance from the nearest available clinic. less The U.S. Supreme Court struck down key parts of Texas' strict abortion laws on June 27, 2016. When House Bill 2 was first signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, more than half of the state's abortion clinics ... more Photo: Eric Gay, STF Photo: Eric Gay, STF Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Texas abortion law could wind up before Supreme Court 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld almost all of a controversial Texas law that could leave fewer than 10 abortion clinics in the state of 27 million people, setting up a potential battle at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeals court unanimously ruled that the 2013 law known as House Bill 2 could take effect everywhere but McAllen, where there is only one clinic serving a wide swath of South Texas.

The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a similar exemption for El Paso, noting there is a clinic in nearby Santa Teresa, N.M.

More broadly, the panel of three judges upheld the law's requirements that abortion facilities meet the expensive standards of hospital-style surgical centers and that abortion doctors obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Those provisions, along with a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and regulations for accomplishing the procedure with a pill, already have led to the closure of about half of the 41 clinics in operation before the law's passage. Another dozen are expected to shutter if the law is allowed to fully take effect.

The judges found that still would leave enough access for Texas women to make the law legal under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade.

"To sustain a facial challenge, the Supreme Court and this circuit require Plaintiffs to establish that the law itself imposes an undue burden on at least a large fraction of women," the judges wrote, quoting an earlier decision to throw out a district court ruling that rejected House Bill 2. "Plaintiffs have not done so here."

The ruling will take effect July 1, unless it is stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court, which stepped in last fall to pause the law's implementation until the appeals court had ruled.

The appeals court ruling, which had been anticipated since oral arguments in early January, was not a surprise. Based in New Orleans with jurisdiction over Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the court is considered the most conservative in the country. Two of the three judges on the panel already had upheld an earlier challenge to House Bill 2.

On Tuesday, several Texas state officials issued statements praising the ruling.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said it "validates that the people of Texas have authority to establish safe, common-sense standards of care necessary to ensure the health of women."

Opponents of the law expressed dismay.

"Once again, women across the state of Texas face the near total elimination of safe and legal options for ending a pregnancy, and the denial of their constitutional rights," said Stephanie Toti, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based group that had challenged the law.

Toti said opponents will appeal the ruling directly to the Supreme Court, skipping a request for a review by all of the judges on the 5th Circuit.

"They've made it very clear that they are not willing to enforce women's constitutional rights when it comes to the issue of abortion," Toti said. "So, we are prepared to take this case to the Supreme Court, and we think that is the right place to go next."