 AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld key parts of Texas's strict anti-abortion law on Tuesday, a decision that could leave as few as seven abortion clinics in the nation's second largest state. At the time, the court said the provision did not impose an “undue burden” on women because they were still within driving distance of clinics. “Not since before Roe v. Wade has a law or court decision had the potential to devastate access to reproductive health care on such a sweeping scale,” said Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which sued the state on behalf of several abortion clinics, in an emailed statement Tuesday. Only seven abortion facilities in Texas, including four operated by Planned Parenthood, meet the more robust requirements. In June of 2013, before the law passed, there were 40 abortion clinics in Texas. The 5th Circuit earlier upheld the provisions requiring doctors at abortion clinics to obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and the regulations that mandate where and when a woman can take abortion-causing pills.
– An appellate court ruling today means that women in rural Texas may have a long drive on their hands if they plan to get an abortion. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state's new rules, which essentially require clinics to have hospital-level building codes, reports the Dallas Morning News. (Think room and doorway sizes, air-sterilization systems, etc.) Prior to today's ruling, the state had 17 abortion clinics—down from 40 in 2013—but only seven of them currently meet the requirements. An eighth, in McAllen near the Mexican border, was granted limited exemptions. Barring a move by the Supreme Court, the state can begin enforcing the new rules in about three weeks, reports AP. Except for McAllen, those that would remain open are in major cities. A woman in El Paso would have to make a 1,300-mile round trip to San Antonio or cross the border into Mexico, and the AP notes the court found the latter option OK. "Although the nearest abortion facility in Texas is 550 miles away from El Paso, there is evidence that women in El Paso can travel the short distance to Santa Teresa (in Mexico) to obtain an abortion and, indeed, the evidence is that many did just that," the court wrote.