Statement from Campaign for Accountability on Supreme Court’s June Medical Services v. Russo Decision
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 29, 2020
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s Act 620, a Targeted Restriction on Abortion Providers (TRAP) law that required abortion providers have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The 5-4 decision was written by Justice Breyer with Chief Justice Roberts penning a separate concurrence. The decision found the Louisiana law violated precedent set in the Court’s 2016 Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt ruling, which held a similar law in Texas to be an unconstitutional undue burden on the right to access abortion. Justice Breyer concluded that the Louisiana law “poses a ‘substantial obstacle’ to women seeking an abortion” and “offers no significant health-related benefits,” leading to the Court’s “ultimate legal conclusion that . . . Act 620 violates the Constitution.” Roberts concurred in judgment that plaintiff abortion providers have standing and that the Louisiana law cannot stand under principles of stare decisis, given the Court’s prior decision in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
“Today the Supreme Court appropriately applied its prior precedent guaranteeing the right to access abortion care,” said Alice Huling, Counsel at Campaign for Accountability.
“Despite the Court’s identical prior precedent, the Court’s plurality decision lacks a clear majority opinion, and leaves the door open for future challenges to abortion access. Abortion opponents will continue to pursue TRAP laws aimed at curtailing and denying abortion. These laws particularly burden abortion access for marginalized populations, rural communities, and young people and as long as they are being enacted the fight to protect reproductive rights is far from over.”