The Supreme Court issued an order today reinstating a U.S. district court's injunction on House Bill 2's ambulatory surgical center requirement and admitting privileges requirement as applied to abortion clinics in McAllen and El Paso. Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the lower court's decision that struck down as unconstitutional two provisions of HB2, and as a result, HB2 has shuttered all but eight abortion clinics in Texas. Ruling against Attorney General Greg Abbott and dealing a serious blow the politicians who passed HB2, this 6-3 Supreme Court order will allow the clinics affected by the Fifth Circuit's decision to reopen throughout the appeals process.

In response to the order, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Executive Director Heather Busby issued the following statement:

"We're pleased that the Supreme Court saw through Attorney General Greg Abbott’s despicable argument that HB2 posed a mere inconvenience to the lives of 900,000 Texas women, keeping the lower court’s injunction with respect to the ambulatory surgical center requirement in place. Just like the anti-choice leadership in the Texas Legislature, Attorney General Greg Abbott is determined to take away Texans’ access to safe, legal and timely abortion care.

The state could not demonstrate a problem or the need for such an extreme and medically unnecessary level of clinic regulation. Abortion clinics in Texas were already well-regulated and abortion is one of the safest forms of outpatient healthcare with a major complication rate of less than .05%. Since the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, HB2 has forced all but eight of state’s clinics to close. Texas is in the midst a public health disaster, but hopefully after today’s ruling people seeking abortion will have more than eight clinics available to them, which is a victory for Texans’ health and safety."