CRR stops regulation, Supreme Court strucked down requirements for House Bill 2
Texas - A lawsuit has been filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights to stop the regulation that would require fetal remains to be buried and cremated from taking effect. Present laws in Texas already led to the closure of half of the abortion clinics in the state.
According to Mother Jones, days before the Supreme Court's decision in Whole Women's Health versus Hellerstedt that struck down two requirements of HB2, the Human Service Commission silently proposed the rule last July to immediately reduce the access to abortion.
An additional $2,000 to the cost of abortion will take effect on December 19. However, those against the rule argues the requirement stating the it will add up to the burdensome cost and logistical challenges to reproductive health. "These insidious regulations are a new low in Texas' long history of denying women that they deserve to make their own decisions about their lives and their healthcare" Nancy Northup, the president of Center for Reproductive Rights, said.
Also, the requirement that doctors have admitting privileges to local hospitals and that abortions be performed in surgical centers rather than in clinics are made clear by the supreme court to protect women's health.
Report from The Texas Tribune, Texas Governor Greg Abbot argues fetal remains should not be treated like a hospital waste. "I believe it is imperative to establish higher standards that reflect our respect for the sanctity of life. Therefore, Texas will require clinics and hospitals to bury or cremate human and fetal remains."
Abortion is a voluntary termination of pregnancy performed prior to the third trimester, resulting in death of the fetus or embryo.
As early as the foundation of America, abortion is already legal. Laws that prohibits abortion were introduced in mid-1800's and by 1900's most had been outlawed. A total of 200,000 to 1.2 million illegal abortions were reported from 1950's to 1960's.
Because of increasing illegal abortions, states began liberalizing the laws and made abortion legalized in 1973. US Supreme Court ruled during the first trimester, a woman has the right to decide what happens to her body.
Even if abortion is made legal in the United States many are still against to it. Opponents of abortion rights believed an embryo or fetus is alive and thus abortion is tantamount to murder while advocates believed that a woman should have access to whatever healthcare she needs and that she should have control over her own body.
Per About News, the battling issues of abortions in US are long been debated from both believers and anti-abortions group. A 2016 Pew Research Survey found out that 59 percent of the republicans believed that abortion should be illegal and 70 percent do not. "In both cases, these figures remained relatively stable for at least two decades" Pew researchers explained.
"The Center for Reproductive Rights will continue to fight for Texas women, and women across the nation, to ensure theirs rights are protected" Nancy Northup argues Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional.
Texas lawmakers are expected to codify the regulation into law when they meet in January 2017.