FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 29, 2020

Contact: Kathy Melley, 617-275-2861

(BOSTON, MA) — By a narrow 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down Louisiana’s onerous abortion restrictions law (June Medical Services v. Russo). This law required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, a requirement that is medically unnecessary and increasingly difficult for abortion providers to meet in states like Louisiana. The result of this law would have been to deny desperately needed abortion services to thousands of Louisiana residents, including Black people who are suffering from the twin viruses of COVID-19 and decades of institutional racism.

Statement of Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst, in response to the Supreme Court ruling:

“We are relieved that the court overturned the egregious Louisiana abortion restrictions law that would have unjustly denied people the safe, legal abortion services they need. Abortion care is essential health care. The Louisiana law would have had a disproportionate impact on low-income people of color, especially Black people who already face unfair and discriminatory barriers to care that have only been exacerbated amid the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis. Today’s ruling affirms that laws that target providers to undermine access to abortion are unconstitutional. They were wrong when the Texas law was ruled unconstitutional – and they are just as wrong this time around when Louisiana hoped to get a different decision from a court that the Trump administration has been remaking.

“We are mindful that hundreds of other abortion restriction laws remain on the books in many states, put there by lawmakers determined to deny reproductive health, rights and justice, especially for Black and Indigenous people and other people of color. Community Catalyst will continue to fight alongside our partners towards reproductive freedom for all people.”

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About Community Catalyst 
Community Catalyst is a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1998 with the belief that affordable quality health care should be accessible to everyone. We work in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @healthpolicyhub.