WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has struck down Texas' widely replicated regulation of abortion clinics that caused more than half of the state's clinics to close.
The ruling is the court's biggest abortion case in nearly a quarter century.
Anchor Siemny Kim had a Facebook Live conversation with constitutional lawyer Jesse Wing about the ruling on the KIRO 7 Facebook page. Follow this link to watch the full video.
The justices voted 5-3 Monday in favor of Texas clinics that protested the regulations as a thinly veiled attempt to make it harder for women to get an abortion in the nation's second-most populous state.
Justice Stephen Breyer's majority opinion for the court held that the regulations are medically unnecessary and unconstitutionally limit a woman's right to an abortion.
Texas had argued that its 2013 law and subsequent regulations were needed to protect women's health. The rules required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and forced clinics to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.
As a result, many Texas abortion clinics were forced to closed.
There were concerns about a tie ruling down ideological lines, but Justice Kennedy sided with liberal justices to reach a majority.
This is the first major abortion case ruling in nine years setting national precedent.