Bonnie Watson Coleman: “Next Tuesday the Supreme Court will take up Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which is a case that challenges Texas'…”

“Next Tuesday the Supreme Court will take up Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which is a case that challenges Texas' outright offensive effort to strip women of their right to choose. Last night the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a similar law to move forward in Louisiana, all but guaranteeing the closure of three of four abortion clinics in that State unless the Supreme Court intervenes there as well. The men who have passed these laws--to be very clear, the Texas State Legislature is 80 percent male, and Louisiana has just made it up from dead last this year at 85 percent--claimed that it would increase the medical accountability and safety of facilities that provide abortion. That is the new message, the new veil, that covers these laws with the air of legitimacy: We want to make your abortion safer. So every doctor needs to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and every clinic needs to function like an emergency center. It sounds logical until you hear what the folks behind these laws have to say after the laws have passed. In Texas, then-Governor Rick Perry said: ``The ideal world is one without abortion. Until then, we will continue to pass laws to ensure that they are as rare as possible.'' One of the authors of the bill said that she was especially proud that ``Texas always takes the lead in trying to turn back what started with Roe v.…”