Solicitor General Liz Murrill of the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office will argue the merits of Louisiana’s Unsafe Abortion Protection Act before the U. S. Supreme Court on March 4, and national pro-life organizations will be in front of the Supreme Court rallying in favor of the law.
The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, Louisiana Act 620, requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges with a local hospital. It was almost immediately challenged following passage in 2014, and the case, June Medical Services, LLC, et al. v Stephen Russo, Interim Secretary, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, has finally made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On March 3, beginning at 5 p.m. Central time, a vigil will take place in front of the Supreme Court. And on March 4, from 7-11 a.m. CT, a rally with testimonies will be held in front of the Supreme Court. The Protect Women Protect Life Rally is hosted by a number of groups, including Louisiana Right to Life, Students for Life of America, Americans United for Life, Live Action, Lila Rose, and Students for Life Action.
A number of Louisiana women will be offering testimonies during the rally, including Cindy Collins, Amy Blackwell, Jeanie Holmes, Ashley Steinhauer, and Lisa Gould.
In Louisiana, every physician at all outpatient surgical facilities, except abortion facilities, must have “admitting privileges” at a local hospital. These hospital privileges are common-sense safety protections to ensure that when an emergency happens at an outpatient facility, the physician can handle the complication without any delay by having the patient admitted to a local hospital and following up her care there. No matter how frequently complications occur, these protections are standard.
In 2014, then State Rep. (now State Sen.) Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) filed the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act to close this loophole and put abortion facilities on the same safety standards as all other outpatient surgical facilities. But the abortion industry, more interested in profits than their patients, filed suit to stop the law in court.
The Louisiana abortion industry has a long record of shoddy practices that jeopardize the health and safety of Louisiana women. The track record of these dangerous for-profit businesses makes it clear that they should not be able to represent women.
The groups hosting the rally are standing together to ask the Supreme Court to close the loopholes that enable abortion facilities to operate at a lower standard than the rest of the medical field.