CHALLENGE BEFORE HIGHEST COURT - A case before the Supreme Court this week will challenge a Louisiana law that prohibits physicians from providing abortion care unless they have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The law is identical to a Texas law the Court struck down in 2016. Since that time The Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana fields phone calls every day from anxious pregnant women who ask if abortion is still legal and if the clinic is still open. The Shreveport clinic is one of only three that provides abortions in the state. Kathleen Pittman, is clinic administrator for Hope Medical Group for Women and chief plaintiff in the case to be heard before the Supreme Court this week.
"The women we see at Hope (Medical Group for Women) they're from varied backgrounds,"Pittman explained. "We see women from Louisiana which makes up about 67% of our patients. The remainder are from Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, sometimes Oklahoma, and as far out as Nebraska."
The Hope Clinic in Shreveport opened in 1980, it is being legally represented by attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights. If the Supreme Court upholds the Louisiana Law requiring admitting privileges for doctors who perform abortions, two of the last three clinics in Louisiana will be forced to close and abortion access could be impacted nationwide.
