At the center of the legal maelstrom caused Monday when the Supreme Court ruled against a controversial Texas abortion law is a disgraced physician who sits in prison for the rest of his life.
Texas lawmakers who enacted the abortion restrictions in HB2 invoked the name of Kermit Gosnell, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg alluded to him as well when she blasted the state's arguments for abortion control.
"When a state severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety,"
The Washington Post reported.
In other words, Texas lawmakers said abortions are dangerous — just look at Kermit Gosnell. Ginsburg said Texas restrictions are dangerous — that's why women go to doctors like Gosnell in the first place.
Ginsburg had the last word in a 5-3 opinion that struck down Texas' abortion clinic restrictions.
Gosnell was a Philadelphia physician convicted of killing three infants who were born despite attempted abortions.
Using Gosnell as the mantle for change, Texas lawmakers in HB2 required clinics to employ the same standards as surgical centers and doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, the Post reported.
As a result, more than half of the clinics in Texas closed; those remaining open would have to undergo expensive renovations or start from scratch, the Post reported. And many doctors couldn't obtain admitting privileges, because they performed abortions.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.