A pro-abortion group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana laws that require abortion centers to obtain a state license and meet health and safety regulations, reports WORLD magazine.
The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit June 27 in federal court in Baton Rouge on behalf of Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport and three anonymous abortionists who say the Louisiana laws violate last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
The ruling determined that an undue burden on abortion access was created by a Texas law that required abortion centers to meet ambulatory surgical center standards and mandated that abortionists have hospital admitting privileges
The state suspended Hope Medical Group’s license for numerous health and safety violations in 2010.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation, told WORLD the Louisiana law is “common sense” and that if the lawsuit is successful, it would create an “abortion-on-demand policy in our pro-life state.”
“If the abortion facility succeeds in this suit, the consequences would be disastrous,” Clapper said. “Abortion facilities would have no guidelines in Louisiana, giving them license to maximize both their profit margin and do whatever necessary to increase the number of abortions they sell.”
Eight of 11 abortion centers closed because of a 2001 law requiring a state license.
A 2010 law requiring that abortion centers meet safety and health guidelines was upheld by a federal court in 2011.
Hope Medical Group also has a lawsuit pending that challenges a state law banning fetal tissue donation and instituting a waiting period for women seeking abortion.
