U.S. Supreme Court puts Texas abortion law provision on hold

A provision of the Texas abortion law that closed all but eight abortion facilities in the state almost two weeks ago was put on hold Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision comes a week after attorneys representing a coalition of abortion providers in the state asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a U.S. district court rulingthat had blocked a key provision that requires abortion facilities to meet the same hospital-like standards as ambulatory surgical centers.Those include minimum sizes for rooms and doorways and having pipelines for anesthesia.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned that ruling and allowed the provision to go into effect as the appeals process continues, shutting down most of the state’s facilities. The 5th Circuit court is still weighing the constitutionality of the law.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court also overturned the provision of the abortion law, also known as House Bill 2, that requires doctors who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles for two facilities: Whole Woman’s Health in McAllen and Reproductive Services in El Paso.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/10/14/us-supreme-court-puts-abortion-law-provision-hold/.