The decision in Roe gave women control over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. The State eventually gets control, because during the second trimester, or stage of viability, the State has a compelling interest to protect human life. Although if an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother, the State will allow the abortion. During the third trimester, the State can regulate an abortion with no restrictions due to the compelling interest to protect the child. The decision of Roe v. Wade were upheld in many cases, including the Supreme Court cases of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health and Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft in 1983, and
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The restriction that relates most to H.B. 2 states, “all post-first-trimester abortions must be performed in a hospital,” (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 420) which the Court deemed was an unnecessary and unconstitutional impediment placed in the way of a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 421). In fact, the Court used Roe as precedent to strike all five of the restrictions from the 1987 ordinance. In Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, the Court struck down part of a Missouri statute, that required abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy to be done in a hospital, for the same reasons they struck down the ordinance in Akron (Justia, 2015). In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law, which put many restrictions on women seeking an abortion. Using stare decisis, the Court ruled that the Pennsylvania law was unconstitutional and struck it down. In this case, the Court affirmed Roe, all while throwing out the trimester system that came from it and replacing it with the undue burden test. The new standard defines undue burden as a state regulation that “has the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus” (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 427).
The Texas statute places a transportation burden on women seeking abortions. With the 5th district court’s decision, facilities that perform abortions are few and far between. This first map shows the licensed abortions clinics in Texas before this legislation took effect. The blue markers are abortion clinics and the yellow markers are ambulatory surgical centers that perform
The restriction that relates most to H.B. 2 states, “all post-first-trimester abortions must be performed in a hospital,” (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 420) which the Court deemed was an unnecessary and unconstitutional impediment placed in the way of a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 421). In fact, the Court used Roe as precedent to strike all five of the restrictions from the 1987 ordinance. In Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, the Court struck down part of a Missouri statute, that required abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy to be done in a hospital, for the same reasons they struck down the ordinance in Akron (Justia, 2015). In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law, which put many restrictions on women seeking an abortion. Using stare decisis, the Court ruled that the Pennsylvania law was unconstitutional and struck it down. In this case, the Court affirmed Roe, all while throwing out the trimester system that came from it and replacing it with the undue burden test. The new standard defines undue burden as a state regulation that “has the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus” (Epstein and Walker, 2013, p. 427).
The Texas statute places a transportation burden on women seeking abortions. With the 5th district court’s decision, facilities that perform abortions are few and far between. This first map shows the licensed abortions clinics in Texas before this legislation took effect. The blue markers are abortion clinics and the yellow markers are ambulatory surgical centers that perform