We Filed Our Amicus Brief to Support Another Pro-Life Victory

Before the U.S. Supreme Court right now is one of the most significant abortion lawsuits since the legalization of abortion with Roe v. Wade.
 

 

On February 3, 2016, we filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of you and all Illinois Right to Life members, to help argue in support of a pro-life victory. 

 

Whole Women’s Health abortion clinic joined a group of abortion clinics to sue the state of Texas over a new law that was passed called HB-2.

 

Why don’t abortion clinics like HB-2?

 

First, it requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges with local hospitals. Since abortion clinics aren’t equipped with emergency equipment if something goes wrong, HB-2 allows the abortionist to transfer their suffering patient to a hospital with the tools to stop complications or administer life-saving treatment.

Second, HB-2 requires abortion clinics be held to the equal standard of care that other outpatient surgery centers are held to. We believe that the standard of care should not be lower for a woman receiving an abortion than for a woman seeking plastic surgery.

 

So here’s what happened.The law was passed by Texas and the abortion industry sued the state because it didn’t want to have increased oversight. The abortion clinics suing the state complained to the Court that Texas had no legitimate women’s health reason for passing these laws.

 

The abortion clinics allege the state of Texas only passed the law to shutdown abortion clinics and hinder women’s access to abortion.

 

That’s not even close to being true. 

 

Get this – one of the abortion clinics in the lawsuit, Whole Women’s Health abortion clinic, had disturbing health and sanitary violations within its own clinic! 

 

As our U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief shows, a Beaumont TV station in Texas reported that this abortion clinic was found to have multiple health and safety violations, including holes in the floor (permitting vermin to get in), rust on suction machines that would be inserted into a woman’s body, medication spilled on non-sterile surfaces, and it lacked essential, life-saving machines.

 

This is one of the abortion clinics asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the state of Texas from increasing oversight into abortion clinics.

So why does Illinois care?

One year ago, Illinois Right to Life released a shocking in-depth report on how women’s health in Illinois is being placed at risk because of the lack of oversight and inspections in abortion clinics.

 

Our report showed that tanning salons, nursing homes, and Chicago restaurants are required to have health and safety inspections an average of once a year. Abortion clinics are only inspected once every nine years on average. When they were finally inspected, over one hundred violations were found that placed women in danger.

 

In January, we were approached by attorneys that asked if they could file an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court showing the justices just what happens when abortion clinics (like the ones in Illinois) don’t have oversight.

 

Here’s a summary of what we told the Justices on your behalf in our 24 page brief:

 

“Illinois possessed a similar law to what Texas has enacted but the courts invalidated it as applied to abortion providers while permitting it to be in effect for all other types of clinics, under the logic that facilities providing abortions do not need the same oversight. We can now look to Illinois to see the catastrophic consequences that substandard oversight of abortion clinics has caused for women’s health. This has led to a proliferation of unlicensed and uninspected abortion providers, resulting in the abandonment of women to grotesque and unsanitary clinics. In turn. these unsanitary and dangerous clinics have caused women to be treated in slum-like abortion clinics and have caused numerous deaths and permanent injuries to women seeking what they hoped and trusted would be safe abortion procedures in clinics the State permits to operate.”

 

But Illinois and Texas aren’t alone in abortion clinics running rampant with health and safety violations. As a matter of fact, a pattern has risen to the surface. As our brief states, abortion clinics in Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama, and Michigan are just a few of the other states with problems.

 

So here’s the summary:

 

Texas passed a law. Abortion clinics in Texas didn’t like it. They couldn’t/wouldn’t meet the same health and safety standards as other non-abortion providing surgery centers. Now, 75% of the abortion clinics in Texas are closing.

And so, the abortion clinics got together and sued Texas. The lawsuit now landed on the desk of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorneys approached Illinois Right to Life and asked if they could give the U.S. Supreme Court, our top-notch research on abortion clinic oversight to help explain why it is vital that Texas does not behave like Illinois and instead treat abortion clinics equally as other surgery centers.

 

Our attorneys at Chicago’s Thomas More Society filed our shocking amicus brief. On March 2, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the pro-life law. Then, over the summer, the Justices will determine if this law can stay to protect women’s health.

 

This brief is really important. You can read it here.