Hillary Clinton hailed the Supreme Court striking down anti-abortion laws in Texas as a "victory for women." | AP Photo Clinton, Obama hail Supreme Court abortion decision

The Supreme Court’s 5-3 decision striking down two provisions of a sweeping anti-abortion law in Texas “is a victory for women in Texas and across America,” but the fight over women’s rights isn’t over, Hillary Clinton said Monday, while Republicans and conservatives condemned the ruling.

“SCOTUS's decision is a victory for women in Texas and across America. Safe abortion should be a right—not just on paper, but in reality,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee tweeted.


“This fight isn't over: The next president has to protect women's health,” she added in a follow-up tweet. “Women won't be 'punished' for exercising their basic rights.”

Clinton’s second tweet was an attack directed at Donald Trump, who in March suggested that women be punished for having abortions — if the procedure were outlawed — before reversing himself following backlash from Republicans and Democrats.

Justice Anthony Kennedy sided with the court’s liberals in the 5-3 decision, which marks the first time the court has put limits on state abortion legislation in more than 15 years.

“I applaud everyone who flooded the Texas Capitol to speak out against these attacks on women’s health, the brave women and men across the country who shared their stories, and the health care providers who fought for their patients and refused to give up,” Clinton said in a statement, noting that Trump has pledged to defund Planned Parenthood and appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

“We must continue to protect access to safe and legal abortion – not just on paper, but in reality,” Clinton added.

President Barack Obama praised the ruling, saying in a statement that he is “pleased to see the Supreme Court protect women's rights and health today.”

In Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a group of Texas abortion clinics challenged the state law that required health providers have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and perform abortions in ambulatory surgical centers, which opponents argued would have severely restricted access.

“As the brief filed by the Solicitor General makes clear and as the Court affirmed today, these restrictions harm women's health and place an unconstitutional obstacle in the path of a woman's reproductive freedom,” Obama said in a statement. “We remain strongly committed to the protection of women's health, including protecting a woman's access to safe, affordable health care and her right to determine her own future. Women’s opportunities are expanded and our nation is stronger when all of our citizens have accessible, affordable health care.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hailed the ruling in a tweet: “Today SCOTUS reaffirmed a woman’s access to a safe and legal abortion as a constitutional right. A victory for women across America,” he wrote.

“We are thrilled that these dangerous provisions have been struck down. This is a win for women,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation for America, said in a statement. “Every person must have the right to make their own personal decisions about abortion, and we will fight like hell to ensure they do.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) blasted the court's ruling, accusing justices of “caving to the demands of abortion extremists who seek to normalize the ending of an innocent human life in the womb regardless of the dangers.”

"I deeply believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and that it should be-and will be-overturned someday,” Cotton continued in a statement. “But before that time, we all should have been able to agree that duly elected representatives of the people can pass laws to protect women from unsafe abortion providers. That's now impossible after this decision, and it will be to the detriment of the well-being of women across the nation.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who recently announced that he would seek reelection to his seat after long maintaining that he would return to private life if his White House bid failed, bewailed the decision but vowed to continue fighting for life and protecting the unborn.

Wendy Davis, who as a Texas state senator rose to national prominence in 2013 with a filibuster against the bill, called the decision “incredible news for the women of Texas” and “incredible news for women throughout the country.”

"Well, I'm overjoyed. I have to tell you, I was fighting back tears a moment ago, as I was reading the SCOTUSblog and the first line that came out saying that the Fifth Circuit opinion or decision had been reversed," Davis told MSNBC.

Davis also said it would take “several months” for the level of access to return to where it was before the anti-abortion law was passed.

“I think a lot of people understand how incredibly important the election of this next president is going to be,” she remarked later. “Particularly because of the appointment of not just one Supreme Court vacancy, but what might be another one or two following that. The tilt of this court and the president's ability to place someone there who's going to keep that ship where it needs to be is going to way, I think, very heavily in the minds of voters this fall.”

Other Texas officials, however, were disappointed with the ruling. “The decision erodes States’ lawmaking authority to safeguard the health and safety of women and subjects more innocent life to being lost,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “Texas’ goal is to protect innocent life, while ensuring the highest health and safety standards for women.”

State Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the Texas law — known as HB2 — as “an effort to improve minimum safety standards and ensure capable care for Texas women.”

“It’s exceedingly unfortunate that the court has taken the ability to protect women’s health out of the hands of Texas citizens and their duly-elected representatives,” he said in a statement.

Sen. Ted Cruz echoed Rubio's sentiments but added in a Facebook post that the outcome is “profoundly disappointing.” The high court, he said, sided with “abortion extremists who care more about providing abortion-on-demand than they do protecting women’s health.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) tweeted that the law isn’t an “undue burden, but a legitimate women's health interest that Texas wants to protect.”

In a statement released by his office, he suggested the decision was driven by the “left-leaning ideological bias of the Supreme Court” rather than the Constitution.

“Why else would they reject higher medical standards and women's safety for lower, less safe health care for women?” he asked. “This is a sad day for Texas and for those who fight to protect the sanctity of life.”