The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Monday Louisiana’s tough restriction on abortion.
It said it violates the country’s Constitution.
The ruling was a surprising victory for abortion rights advocates from an increasingly conservative court.
The ruling struck down a law passed by Louisiana’s legislature in 2014 that required any doctor offering abortion services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.
Its enforcement had been blocked by a protracted legal battle.
Two Louisiana doctors and a medical clinic sued to get the law overturned.
They said it would leave only one doctor at a single clinic to provide services for nearly 10,000 women who seek abortions in the state each year.
The challengers said the requirement was identical to a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down in 2016.
With the vote of then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court ruled that Texas imposed an obstacle on women seeking access to abortion services without providing any medical benefits.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
