Wendy Davis Asking Supreme Court To Strike Down Texas Abortion Law

Former Democratic Gubernatorial candidate and state Senator Wendy Davis has once again joined the fight against Texas' 2013 Abortion law.  Davis is using her own personal story in the hope of convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the law.
 
Davis gained national prominence for her filibuster of the abortion bill in 2013.  She’s now joined a group of women legislators who are providing the high court with their personal accounts of their own abortions.
 
“We joined in this brief to help the court understand the very real human stories behind abortion in this country," Davis says. "And for them to hopefully consider this issue in those terms and outside of the abstract legal terms that are sometimes talked about.” 
 
The brief that the Davis group has filed is one of 45 similar briefs that asks the high court to strike down the state regulations that require doctors performing abortions have hospital admitting privileges and require each clinic conform to ambulatory-surgical center standards, which can mean high construction costs.
 
Attorneys for the lead plaintiff in the case, Whole Women’s Health, argue the law will shut down all but 10 clinics in the state.
 
But those in support of the new state regulations have also filed their own testimonials with Supreme Court justices.  Joe Pojman is the executive director for Texas Alliance for Life.
 
“There is a huge infrastructure of abortion facilities that do meet the safety standards, if the other ones who fail to meet the safety standards go away tomorrow, women still have ready access to abortion in all the major metropolitan areas,” he says.
 
But for now the law has been placed on hold by the Supreme Court until the case can be heard.  Oral arguments have been scheduled for March 2.