ADF: Uphold Texas law protecting post-abortive women

WHO: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and Bioethics Defense Fund Chief Counsel Dorinda C. Bordlee

WHAT: Available for media interviews following hearing in Planned Parenthood of Texas Surgical Health Services v. Abbott

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 6, immediately following hearing which begins at 9 a.m. CST

WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, Room 223, 600 Camp St., New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and Bioethics Defense Fund Chief Counsel Dorinda C. Bordlee will be available for media interviews immediately following the state of Texas’s oral arguments in a federal appeals court Monday regarding the state’s abortion law.

One issue at stake is a portion of the law that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital where women can be treated in the event of complications. In October, a lower court ruled to strike this requirement. The following month, Alliance Defending Freedom, Bioethics Defense Fund, and Family Research Council filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in favor of the requirement.

“The health and safety of women is more important than an abortionist’s bottom line--including the bottom line of Planned Parenthood, which is the nation’s biggest abortion seller,” said Aden. “The fact that Planned Parenthood opposes these commonsense health requirements just proves they care more about profiting from cheap chemical abortions than about women’s health and safety.”

 

The joint brief in support of the law explained that medical research has shown that “admitting privileges promote both the physical and emotional well-being of patients, and may be necessary in emergency circumstances if doctors are to provide an acceptable level of care.”

The brief also notes that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the government has a “‘legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortion, like any other medical procedure, is performed under circumstances that insure maximum safety for the patient.’”

 

“People may hold different views about abortion, but everyone can agree that Planned Parenthood should put the safety and health of women first,” added Bordlee. “We hope this law will be upheld so that women’s lives will not play second fiddle to Planned Parenthood’s profit margin.”