No.

15-274
IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

_____________________

WHOLE WOMANS HEALTH, ET AL.,

Petitioners,
v.
KIRK COLE, M.D., COMMISSIONER OF THE
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH
SERVICES, ET AL.,
Respondents.
_____________________

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT

OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
___________________________________________________________________

BRIEF OF PHYSICIANS FOR

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AS AMICUS
CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
___________________________________________________________________

Thomas M. Bondy
Susannah Landes Weaver
ORRICK, HERRINGTON &
SUTCLIFFE LLP
1152 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

E. Joshua Rosenkranz
Counsel of Record
Sarah M. Sternlieb
ORRICK, HERRINGTON &
SUTCLIFFE LLP
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 506-5000
[email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ..................................... ii
INTEREST OF AMICUS .......................................... 1
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF
ARGUMENT................................................... 2
ARGUMENT ............................................................. 5
I.

II.

ABORTION PROVIDERS ARE

COMMITTED MEDICAL
PROFESSIONALS WHO PRIORITIZE
WOMENS HEALTH. ..................................... 5
A.

Providers are highly trained and

have an excellent safety record. .......... 7

B.

Providers are deeply committed to

womens well-being. ............................. 9

C.

Providers persevere even in the

face of adversity. ................................ 18

D.

Providers respect the need for

regulation and scrupulously comply
with their regulatory obligations. ..... 22

TEXASS HEAVY-HANDED
REGULATION OF ABORTION
PROVIDERS WILL HARM WOMEN. ........ 24
A.

Texass regulations would severely

restrict womens access to trained
providers. ........................................... 24

B.

Access restrictions harm womens

health. ................................................ 32

CONCLUSION ........................................................ 37

ii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
Federal Cases
Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reproductive Health, Inc.,
462 U.S. 416 (1983) ..............................................23
Colautti v. Franklin,
439 U.S. 379 (1979) ................................................2
Doe v. Bolton,
410 U.S. 179 (1973) ........................................23, 32
Eisenstadt v. Baird,
405 U.S. 438 (1972) ................................................3
June Med. Servs., LLC v. Kliebert,
No. 14-CV-525 (M.D. La. 2015) ...........................17
Planned Parenthood of Cent. Mo. v. Danforth,
428 U.S. 52 (1976) ................................................24
Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v. Casey,
505 U.S. 833 (1992) .................. 3, 12, 23, 24, 25, 37
Roe v. Wade,
410 U.S. 113 (1973) ............................. 2, 22, 23, 29
Simopoulos v. Virginia,
462 U.S. 506 (1983) ..............................................22
State Statutes
Tex. Health & Safety Code 171.003.........................7

iii
Tex. Occ. Code chs. 151-169 ........................................7
Other Authorities
Appellants Reply Br., Whole Womans Health
v. Lakey, No. 14-50928 (5th Cir. 2014) .................6
Kelly Cleland et al., Significant Adverse Events
and Outcomes After Medical Abortion, 121
Obstetrics & Gynecology 166 (2013) .....................9
Brooks Egerton, Deadly Dentistry: Elusive
Numbers, Dallas Morning News (Dec. 9, 2015),
http://tinyurl.com/pauxf8d .....................................9
Daniel Grossman et al., The Public Health
Threat of Anti-Abortion Legislation, 89
Contraception 73 (2014) ......................................33
Guttmacher Inst., Facts on Induced Abortion
Worldwide (Jan. 2012), http://tinyurl.com/z25op2p ...............................................33
Diane J. Horvath-Cosper, Being a Doctor Who
Performs Abortions Means You Always
Fear Your Life Is in Danger, Wash. Post
(Oct. 29, 2015),
http://tinyurl.com/pfejw9n ...................................19
Rachel K. Jones & Kathryn Kooistra,
Abortion Incidence and Access to Services
in the United States, 2008, 43 Persp. on
Sexual & Reproductive Health 41 (2011)............18

iv
Cynthia W. Ko et al., Complications of
Colonoscopy: Magnitude and Management,
20 Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics N.
Am. 659 (2010) .......................................................9
Natl Abortion Fedn, Violence Statistics & History,
http://tinyurl.com/pfmdt89 ..................................20
Rick Perry, Gov. of Tex., Gov. Perrys Remarks at House Bill 2 Signing, US State
News (July 18, 2013) ............................................6
Physicians for Reproductive Health, Why I Provide,
http://tinyurl.com/o862xhc.....................................7
Elizabeth G. Raymond & David A. Grimes, The
Comparative Safety of Legal Induced
Abortion and Childbirth in the United States,
119 Obstetrics & Gynecology 215 (2012) .............8
Alex Ronin, The First Legal Abortion Providers
Tell Their Stories, N.Y. Mag. (Oct. 13, 2015),
http://tinyurl.com/hle9x53 ...................................16
Tex. Dept of State Health Servs., Vital
Statistics Annual Reports, http://tinyurl.com/p49vdyz .................................................8
Ushma D. Upadhyay et al., Incidence of
Emergency Department Visits and Complications After Abortion, 70 Obstetrics &
Gynecology 175 (2015) ..........................................8

v
Tracy A. Weitz et al., Safety of Aspiration
Abortion Performed by Nurse Practitioners,
Certified Nurse Midwives, and Physician
Assistants Under a California Legal Waiver,
Am. J. Pub. Health 454 (Mar. 2013) .....................9

INTEREST OF AMICUS1
Physicians for Reproductive Health is a doctor-led
nonprofit that seeks to assure meaningful access to
comprehensive reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion, as part of mainstream
medical care. Founded in 1992, the organization currently has over 6,000 members across the country, including over 3,000 physicians who practice in a range
of fields: obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, infertility, family medicine, emergency medicine, cardiology, public health, neurology, radiology, and more.
These members, many of whom provide abortion care,
include faculty and department heads at academic
medical centers and top hospitals. Thousands of physicians have participated directly in the groups training and education activities, and many more rely on
the medical resources that the group produces.
In public discussions of reproductive health care,
Physicians for Reproductive Health seeks to share the
physicians distinctive voice, expertise, and experience. To that end, the group has long gathered and
published stories of doctors who provide reproductive
health services. It features some of these written and
video accounts on its website, http://prh.org/providervoices/.

The parties have consented to the filing of this amicus brief. No

counsel for a party authored the brief in whole or in part. No
party, counsel for a party, or any person other than amicus and
their counsel made a monetary contribution intended to fund the
preparation or submission of the brief.

2
Abortion restrictions like the ones at issue in this
case directly impact the physicians the group represents, significantly constraining their ability to provide sought-after medical care. While defenders of
such restrictions frequently resort to myths and misconceptions about abortion providers, Physicians for
Reproductive Health can attest that these providers
are, in reality, consummate professionals, as highly
trained and deeply committed to their work as their
colleagues in other medical specialties. These providers know better than anyone the true consequences of
unduly restrictive abortion regulations. They are
gravely concerned that, despite being framed as
health-protective measures, Texass laws and similar
enactments needlessly jeopardize womens health.
INTRODUCTION AND
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
Medical professionals play a central role in this
Courts abortion jurisprudence. Colautti v. Franklin,
439 U.S. 379, 387 (1979). Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113
(1973), and its progeny establish a womans right to
end her pregnancy with assistance from her physician. Indeed, a chief virtue of this Courts decisions
has been to bring abortion out of the shadows, allowing women to obtain safe care from qualified providers. Texass onerous regulations (and others like
them) restrict womens access to exactly the sort of
highly trained, experienced, and ethical physicians
who ought to be delivering care under this Courts
precedents. In so doing, the regulations threaten the
health of the very women they purport to protect,
while doing nothing to improve safety. That is unlawful. Respecting a womans reproductive autonomy

3
necessarily means allowing her to obtain the services
of willing physicians free from unwarranted governmental intrusion. Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v.
Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 875 (1992) (quoting Eisenstadt v.
Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 453 (1972)).
This brief addresses Texass admitting privileges
and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) requirements
from the perspective of physicians who provide abortions. It combines conventional legal argumentation
with first-person narratives from abortion providers
themselves.2 The providers powerful and poignant reflections help to demonstrate why Texass laws are so
extraordinarily problematic and so completely contrary to the principles that this Court recognized in
Roe and reaffirmed in Casey. The brief offers two core
arguments:
I.
To the extent that Texass drastic restrictions on abortion-providing physicians reflect a
belief that such physicians are subpar caregivers
whose work imperils womens health, they are fundamentally misguided. Physicians who provide abortions are highly trained and have a long track record
of delivering care that is extremely safe in both absolute and relative terms. They have chosen to offer
abortion services precisely because they are profoundly committed to womens health and well-being.
2 The narratives were compiled from interviews conducted by
Physicians for Reproductive Health and amicus counsel. The
physicians each personally reviewed and approved the versions
of their accounts that appear herein. The opinions expressed are
their own, and are not necessarily shared by the institutions for
which they work.

4
Some remember all too vividly the deaths, gruesome
injuries, and emotional trauma that women experienced in the pre-Roe days due to the unavailability of
safe and legal means to end pregnancies. These providers do not want to return to the past. That is why
they persevere even in the face of harassment and violence, and despite the professional and personal toll
that their work can take. They understand that
women will not have the reproductive autonomy that
this Courts decisions promise unless skilled doctors
step up to render aid.
Abortion providers welcome and support safety
regulations that promote the delivery of quality
health care. Indeed, many conduct research to improve the already excellent safety record of abortion
care. But they are deeply troubled by requirements of
the sort at issue here, which are wholly disconnected
from professional norms and do nothing to improve
care.
II. Unfortunately, Texass admitting privileges
and ASC requirements are worse than pointless; they
are counterproductive. They will needlessly harm the
health of women who wish to end a pregnancy. Together, the requirements will have a devastating effect on access to safe abortion care by creating what
amounts to a Catch-22: Physicians who specialize in
abortion care are thwarted by the admitting privileges requirement, not because of any deficiency in
their ability to perform safe abortions, but rather because their work is so safe that they do not admit
enough patients to hospitals to qualify for privileges.
Meanwhile, physicians who do substantial hospitalbased work and spend just a portion of their time

5
providing abortion care in free-standing clinics are
thwarted by the ASC requirement, which bars them
from providing abortions except in costly special-purpose facilities that may be geographically distant
from the rest of their practice.
With only a handful of providers left to meet the
States demand, women in Texas will face protracted
waits for care and lengthy trips to get it. That means
fewer women will be able to end pregnancies at the
earliest stage, when the medical risks are lowest. And
more women will tempt fate by turning to desperate
measures. Even for women who manage to obtain
treatment from one of the States remaining providers, continuity of care will suffer. Inflicting such injuries in the name of womens health is perverse. This
Court should reject this unconscionable threat to
womens reproductive health.
ARGUMENT
I.

ABORTION PROVIDERS ARE COMMITTED

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WHO PRIORITIZE WOMENS HEALTH.

The regulations at issue in this case target one,

and only one, group of doctorsthose who provide
abortionsand do so without valid justification.
Texas has not defended its regulations as permissible
measures to advance the States interest in potential
life, presumably because the regulations advance that
interest only to the extent they preclude women who
wish to end pregnancies from exercising their constitutional right to do so. Instead, Texas invokes its interest in protecting womens health. But that

6
justification rings hollow unless abortion providers
endanger their patients health in ways that plausibly
warrant the States extraordinary measures. Abortion
providers pose no such dangers. Far from it.
While anti-abortion activists and their allies routinely seek to advance their cause by disparaging
abortion providers as unqualified or unscrupulous,3
the reality is very different. Physicians who provide
abortions are highly trained professionals. Even in
the face of frequent harassment and stifling regulations, they consistently deliver safe and compassionate care. Thanks in no small part to their skill and
dedication, abortion is statistically a very low-risk
medical procedure. Given providers excellent safety
record, the States decision to single them out for disfavored regulatory treatment strongly suggests that
the States asserted health interest is pretextual. And
pretext or not, the health interest is nowhere near sufficient to justify the magnitude of the burden the challenged requirements impose.

3 For instance, upon signing H.B. 2, then-Governor Rick Perry

remarked that he heard far too many stories about reckless
doctors performing abortions in horrific conditions. See Rick
Perry, Gov. of Tex., Gov. Perrys Remarks at House Bill 2
Signing, US State News (July 18, 2013). Echoing that sentiment,
the State asserted (citing three aberrational incidents over a
twenty-year period, all of which occurred outside of Texas) that
[t]he abortion profession has been known to attract
practitioners who have inflicted grievous harms on their
patients, thus justifying preemptive actions to prevent these
atrocities. Appellants Reply Br., Whole Womans Health v.
Lakey, No. 14-50928, at 29-30 (5th Cir. 2014).

7
While each providers biography is unique, the
doctors whose stories are interspersed below are not
anomalies. Hundreds of similar stories could be told
and, indeed, Physicians for Reproductive Health has
collected and shared many such accounts elsewhere.
See, e.g., Physicians for Reproductive Health, Why I
Provide, http://tinyurl.com/o862xhc (last visited Dec.
30, 2015). Several overarching themes emerge from
these accounts, all of which point to the folly of the
regulations at issue here.
A. Providers are highly trained and have
an excellent safety record.
In Texas (and many other States), the only people
who can lawfully perform abortions are state-licensed
physiciansi.e., individuals whom the State has
deemed qualified to practice medicine. See Tex.
Health & Safety Code 171.003; see also Tex. Occ.
Code chs. 151-169 (detailing qualifications, professional standards, and disciplinary procedures for physicians). Abortion providers in Texas and elsewhere
are thus graduates of accredited medical schools.
They have passed formal licensing exams. They typically have completed residencies in specialties like obstetrics/gynecology (OB-GYN) or family medicine,
going out of their way to choose residency programs
that offer abortion-related training (many programs
do not). Often (and increasingly), they have done
multi-year post-residency fellowships in family planning. Many are affiliated with the countrys most
highly regarded educational institutions and medical
facilities.

8
As the narratives in this brief vividly illustrate,
any suggestion that abortion doctors are somehow
less qualified or capable than other medical professionals is simply wrong. They are physicians like any
other, with training and experience that includes
abortion care but extends far beyond it. They have delivered babies, completed miscarriages, performed
hysterectomies, prescribed contraceptives, and much
more. As a technical matter, abortion tends to be one
of the safest and most straightforward procedures
they offer.
The professionalism of abortion providers is one
reason why legal abortion today is exceptionally safe
in both absolute and relative terms. There is less than
a 0.23% risk of major complications following an abortion,4 and the mortality rate from abortion-related
complications is a miniscule 0.0006%, usually
amounting to fewer than 10 fatalities per year nationwide.5 In Texas, there have been zero fatalities among
abortion patients in the five most recent years for
which data is available.6 By way of comparison, the
mortality rate for colonoscopy is some 50 times higher

4 Ushma D. Upadhyay et al., Incidence of Emergency Department

Visits and Complications After Abortion, 70 Obstetrics &
Gynecology 175, 179 (2015).

Elizabeth G. Raymond & David A. Grimes, The Comparative

Safety of Legal Induced Abortion and Childbirth in the United
States, 119 Obstetrics & Gynecology 215, 216 (2012).
5

6 See Tex. Dept of State Health Servs., Vital Statistics Annual

Reports, http://tinyurl.com/p49vdyz (tabular data through 2013)
(last visited Dec. 22, 2015).

9
than abortion,7 and over the past five years, Texas has
seen 85 reported deaths following dental procedures.8
Moreover, the abortion complication and mortality
rates just cited encompass all abortion procedures, including late-term ones, which, though still safe, carry
additional risks. For early abortions (which account
for the overwhelming majority of the procedures to
which Texass challenged regulations apply), the risk
of major complications is even lower0.06% for medical abortions,9 and 0.05% for first trimester abortions
by aspiration10and the fatality rate is infinitesimal.
B. Providers are deeply
womens well-being.

committed

to

Abortion-providing physicians could have chosen

to take their medical careers in any number of directions. Many of the alternative paths available to them
would have been more lucrative and certainly less
professionally fraught. But they believe it is vital for

See Cynthia W. Ko et al., Complications of Colonoscopy:

Magnitude and Management, 20 Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Clinics N. Am. 659, 659-71 (2010) (reporting 34.5 deaths per
100,000 procedures).
7

Brooks Egerton, Deadly Dentistry: Elusive Numbers, Dallas

Morning News (Dec. 9, 2015), http://tinyurl.com/pauxf8d.

Kelly Cleland et al., Significant Adverse Events and Outcomes

After Medical Abortion, 121 Obstetrics & Gynecology 166, 169
(2013).
9

10 Tracy A. Weitz et al., Safety of Aspiration Abortion Performed

by Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, and Physician
Assistants Under a California Legal Waiver, 103 Am. J. Pub.
Health 454, 458 (2013).

10
women to receive competent and compassionate reproductive health care, including abortion. And they
feel a responsibility to deliver that care personally, as
Dr. Lisa Goldthwaite explains.
***
Lisa Goldthwaite, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Goldthwaite is a Clinical Assistant Professor
of OB-GYN at Stanford University. She provides generalist obstetrics and gynecology services in addition
to family planning and abortion services.
I grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and I was raised in
the United Church of Christ. Social justice was a huge
part of my upbringing. My siblings and I have diverse
careersminister, artist, doctorbut we were all
raised with a similar core ethic and we approach our
careers with the same desire to help people and make
the world a safer and better place.
After finishing my residency in OB-GYN, I decided to pursue a Family Planning Fellowship because I was committed to becoming an abortion
provider and training others in this care. I now provide a wide range of OB-GYN care, including abortions.
I really love providing comprehensive reproductive health care to women. But for me, one of the most
satisfying parts of my job is providing abortion care.
Abortion is a foundational component of womens
health. Its about womens lives. Its about what happens to our own bodies, as well as the kids and partners and others that we have obligations to. If women

11
cant determine if and when to be pregnant, then it
may be impossible for them to control anything else
in their lives. I have always been pro-choice, but, like
many who identify as pro-choice, I probably had a nave layer of judgment about abortion when I was
younger. Through the various stories of the patients I
meet, any judgment has vanished completely. There
are unending reasons why a woman might seek an
abortion. As a provider, I simply try to show up with
an open mind, listen to my patients, and educate them
about their safe and legal choices.
I could have easily chosen a comfortable, lucrative
career practicing in a less controversial field of medicine. Everywhere Ive practiced has had some degree
of protesters, and stress. The protesters have even
found and sent mail to my parents address, where I
havent lived for over fifteen years. I dont like that I
have to worry about the safety of my patients or spend
time telling my family and friends not to worry about
me. But being there for women who need abortions is
immensely rewarding. I genuinely love what I do. I
accept that this work comes with risks for me and
judgment from othersafter all, theres no other field
of medicine thats so politicizedbut I feel great pride
in my work and I cant imagine doing anything else.
***
Dr. Goldthwaites articulation of her reasons for
becoming an abortion provider echoes this Courts
recognition that a womans ability to control her reproduction is central to her autonomy. See, e.g., Casey,
505 U.S. at 856 (The ability of women to participate
equally in the economic and social life of the Nation

12
has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.). She and her colleagues appreciate
that when women are confronted with lifes vagariesunplanned pregnancy, severe birth defects,
health complications, rape, spousal abuse, and
moresome will make the deeply personal decision to
obtain an abortion. They want those women to receive
the respectful, conscientious and safe treatment they
deserve.
Like Dr. Goldthwaite, many providers also place
special emphasis on the social justice aspect of their
work. While the demand for abortion cuts across all
demographic groups, a disproportionate number of
the women who seek care are in poverty or otherwise
marginalized and underserved. They are in desperate
need of reputable physicians willing to offer affordable and accessible reproductive health services. Many
of the physicians who provide safe abortions to this
population also endeavor to deliver more holistic
carehealth screenings and counseling, contraception, and more. Dr. Rachna Vanjani describes how she
and her colleagues seek to meet the varied reproductive health needs of the women they serve.
***
Rachna Vanjani, M.D.
Dr. Vanjani attended medical school at George
Washington University. She is currently an OB-GYN
in Contra Costa County, California participating in a
national health service program.

13
From an early age, I wanted to be a physician who
works with underserved communities to provide primary care and preventive medicine. At first I thought
I would be a family physician, possibly working in
global health practicing in a medically underserved
part of the world. It became clear to me, though, that
there are many areas of the United States that are, in
fact, underservedparticularly when it comes to
abortion. I became determined to remedy that. Working with underserved women is what I see as my lifes
work, and being an abortion provider is an integral
part of that. I want to help women safely obtain the
access and care they need to control their health and
their lives. This is why I provide prenatal care, abortion services, contraception counseling, and other reproductive health services to underserved and
marginalized women in Northern California.
I decided to become an OB-GYN because I believe
that educating and providing reproductive health
care can effect one of the most profound, positive
changes in the life of a woman as well as in the lives
of those around her. In the course of a morning, I can
counsel a woman on terminating an unwanted pregnancy, provide prenatal care to another, and speak to
a third about fertility treatments. The ability to give
a woman the option to take control of her health and
fertility, thereby empowering her to take control of
her life, is not an obligation of my profession but a
privilege that I am fortunate to fulfill.
***

14
Some providers point to their religious faith, or to
an ethic of service instilled in them from childhood, as
a driving force behind their work.
***
Willie Parker, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Dr. Parker attended medical school at the University of Iowa, completed residencies in OB-GYN and
preventive medicine, and received a Masters in Public
Health from Harvard University. A former official at
the Centers for Disease Control, he currently practices
in Mississippi and Alabama. Dr. Parker is a plaintiffrespondent in Jackson Womens Health Organization
v. Currier, a case challenging a restrictive Mississippi
abortion law. (Mississippis pending petition for certiorari in the case is No. 14-997.)
Growing up in Alabama, religion was of deep importance to me. As a teenager, I was born again,
preached in Baptist churches, and knocked on doors
to share the word of God. In the first part of my career,
I didnt do abortions; I considered them to be morally
wrong. But I grew increasingly uncomfortable turning
away women seeking abortions.
Reading a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. on the Good Samaritan challenged me to a
deeper spiritual understanding. The Samaritan cared
more about the well-being of the person needing help
than about what might happen to him for stopping to
give help. I wrestled with my conscience and realized
that to show compassion to my patients, I needed to
be able to provide abortions.

15
My belief in God tells me that the most important
thing you can do for another human being is to help
them in their time of need. Thats why I have provided
abortions full-time since 2009. I do not miss my easier
path. I know that providing abortion care is just and
noble and right.
***
Andrea Jackson, M.D., M.A.S.
Clinical Research
Dr. Jackson attended Harvard Medical School
and completed her residency in OB-GYN at Brigham
and Womens Hospital and Massachusetts General
Hospital. She now practices in San Francisco.
As an OB-GYN, I wear many hatsI see patients,
and Im also an educator, training future doctors to
provide abortion. Im an abortion provider because I
believe in the Golden Rule (do unto others ) and I
believe in helping people.
I grew up in a modest household, so when I
started looking at colleges I knew that whatever field
I went into, it had to be something practical. My mom
is a nurse, and I grew up watching her take care of
people. I wasnt exactly sure what I wanted to do, but
I wanted to be like my momthe person everyone
comes to for help.
My mom taught us the value in helping others,
regardless of how much material wealth you have. I
remember one Christmas, she explained to us that we
didnt have the money for gifts that year. But instead
of it being a sad day, the whole family went to the

16
homeless shelter, where we volunteered to serve
Christmas dinner. I learned a profound lesson that
day: You are always in a position to help others.
I had the opportunity to work abroad in Zimbabwe, where abortion is illegal. I saw many women who
were suffering from botched, unsafe abortions
women who never recovered. The experience made me
realize how important safe, legal abortion is in the
United States, but also how tenuous that right can
seem these days. As a doctor and an advocate, Im determined to make sure that abortion remains accessible to everyone, regardless of where they live or how
much money they make.
***
Dr. Jacksons sobering encounter with the fallout
from illicit abortion is not unique. Providers, especially those whose memories extend back to the preRoe era, frequently identify similar formative experiences. Dr. Wendy Chavkin, now a professor of public
health and OB-GYN at Columbia University, has recounted a conversation she had with a leading New
York OB-GYN shortly after Roe: he was a devout and
very conservative Catholic. But hed seen women die
of botched abortions resulting in gas gangrene of the
uterus. He told me, Anyone who has ever seen a 13year-old die like that has to support [legalized] abortion. Alex Ronin, The First Legal Abortion Providers
Tell Their Stories, N.Y. Mag. (Oct. 13, 2015), http://tinyurl.com/hle9x53 (quoting Dr. Chavkin). These physicians provide abortions to assure that no one else
suffers a similar fatea point Dr. D.B. amplifies.
***

17
D.B., M.D.
Dr. B. attended Southwestern Medical School and
did his residency at Louisiana State University at
Shreveport. He currently has an OB-GYN practice and
also works at the Hope Clinic providing abortion care.
Dr. B. is involved in ongoing federal litigation over
Louisiana abortion regulations, June Medical Services LLC v. Kliebert, No. 14-CV-525 (M.D. La.). To
protect his safety, the court in that case has shielded
his identity from disclosure. Consistent with that determination, this brief refers to him only by his initials.
I wasnt sure initially what kind of doctor I
wanted to be. But when I got to my OB-GYN rotation,
I loved that aspect of medicine. Delivering babies is
very special. And I liked being able to combine internal medicine and surgery.
When I first came to Shreveport in the mid-1970s,
even though abortion was technically legal, there
were still no abortion services offered in this region.
So I saw first-hand the horrible effects of what happens when quality abortion care is not availableawful infections and septic abortions. One patient stuck
a hanger up her cervix and ruptured her membranes.
Another did the same with a rubber catheter. Others
saw back alley abortionists whose typical technique
was to stick a probe into the uterus to rupture the
membranes in order to induce an abortion. But if the
woman didnt miscarry right away, she would get awful infections. One patient even tried to shoot the fetus with a gun. She missed the fetus, but hit her
uterus, intestines, and liver, and had to have multiple

18
surgeries. It only takes one or two experiences like
this to break your heart. And this was all at a time
when abortion was legal; it just wasnt available in
this region, and poor people couldnt afford to travel
to receive good care from a doctor. I worry that if all
of the restrictions on abortions and social pressures
continue, it will be the same deal as it was back then.
When I finished my residency, I wasnt initially
interested in performing abortions. But that same
year the Hope Clinic opened in Shreveport. Originally
they had recruited a general surgeon to work there,
but he backed out so they asked me to assist. I
thought it would be temporary, but no one else
stepped forward, so I still work there two days per
week.
The reason I do what I do is because Im trying to
help women have a better outcome because I believe
they deserve it. Thats what keeps me going even
though providing abortion care is really stressful for
me, my wife, and my family. I certainly dont want to
go back to what it used to be.
(Dr. B.s story is continued in Part II.)
C. Providers persevere even in the face of
adversity.
Abortion providers often have their dedication
tested in extreme ways. The vast majority of abortion
clinics experience some form of anti-abortion harassment. See Rachel K. Jones & Kathryn Kooistra, Abortion Incidence and Access to Services in the United
States, 2008, 43 Persp. on Sexual & Reproductive

19
Health 41, 48 (2011). Many physicians have faced
chilling intimidationhate mail, death threats,
stalking, and vandalism. Most have discovered personal information and photos of themselves and their
family members posted on anti-choice websites. After
discovering a picture of her young daughter on such a
website, one doctor wrote:
As a mother, it is especially difficult to
shoulder this risk as a cost of doing my
job. When I am out in public, I remain
intensely aware of my surroundings:
Every time I turn the ignition key in
my car, theres a fraction of a second of
panic that someone may have planted
a bomb. On public transit, if strangers
gazes linger for more than a few seconds, I wonder if they recognize me and
if their intentions are sinister. I fear for
the safety of my child. I worry that protesters may someday show up at her
day care, focused on hurting her as a
way to punish me. There is no better
way to intimidate and incite fear than
to target a family member, especially a
child. The message is unambiguous:
Im being watched, and so is my daughter.
Diane J. Horvath-Cosper, Being a Doctor Who Performs Abortions Means You Always Fear Your Life Is
in Danger, Wash. Post (Oct. 29, 2015),
http://tinyurl.com/pfejw9n.

20
And, tragically, providers know that the possibility of violence is all too real. The recent shooting at a
Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado is just the latest reminder. Since 1993, there have been
11
murders and 26 attempted murders attributable to
anti-abortion violence. See Natl Abortion Fedn, Violence Statistics & History, http://tinyurl.com/pfmdt89
(last visited Dec. 30, 2015). Dr. Douglas Laube elaborates upon some of the challenges providers face, and
his experience exemplifies providers resolve to carry
on.
***
Douglas Laube, M.D., M.Ed.
Dr. Laube has been an OB-GYN for over 40 years.
He is a past President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and former Chair of the
OB-GYN Department at the University of Wisconsin.
Earlier in his career he served as a naval doctor at
Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Becoming a physician was part of how I grew up.
My father was a surgeon, and I followed in his footsteps. I specialized in OB-GYN because I liked the
preventive medicine aspect, as well as the surgical aspect of OB-GYN. When I was in medical school, I witnessed the death of a 17-year-old girl from a septic
abortion. It had a real impact on me. Roe was decided
shortly after my residency, and within two months we
had begun providing abortion care at the University
of Iowa, and we built abortion training into the residency.

21
Being an abortion provider means always being
on alert for potential danger to yourself and your patients. One story sticks with me in particular. Back in
the late 1980s, an anti-choice group from Wichita set
its sights on the University of Iowa clinic. I was in the
middle of a procedure when I heard the banging. A
nurse saw the protesters trying to break down the
clinic doors with a telephone pole and called security.
As I finished the procedure, my patient looked at me
imploringly and grabbed my arm. You cant leave
now, she pleaded. By then, the protesters had broken
the glass door, but had been stopped and apprehended
by security guards. I assured my scared patient that
no one was going anywhere. And I continued providing abortions.
When my children were young, I occasionally worried that I was putting them in jeopardy by being an
abortion provider. This is common for providers with
young children. Im 71 now, and my kids are grown.
Ive recommitted myself to this work because it is
worth fighting for. Even if you rule that these restrictions are constitutional, and women are unable to
access quality care from trained physicians, women
will still have abortions. Weve come so far in medical
science, and we cant afford to go backwards.
***
That physicians who provide abortions persevere
despite the risks and the stresses is a testament to the
seriousness with which they take their work. Providers do not put themselves in harms way to deliver indifferent, second-rate care. They give it their all.

22
D. Providers respect the need for regulation and scrupulously comply with their
regulatory obligations.
None of this is to suggest that abortion providers
believe they should be immune from regulation. They
make peace with the fact that they are this countrys
most heavily regulated and closely scrutinized group
of medical professionals. They recognize that this
Courts precedents allow properly tailored measures
to advance States interest in potential life. And they
appreciate that State efforts to regulate the practice
of medicine can play an important role in protecting
patient health. Indeed, Dr. B. was involved in commenting on Louisianas first set of licensing regulations on abortion clinics in the 1980s. Those initial
regulations, he explained, were straightforward and
made sense: They codified what good medical practice
required.
The vast majority of abortion providers scrupulously comply with their many regulatory obligations,
and they have little sympathy for the rare bad apple
who does not. Cf. Roe, 410 U.S. at 166 (If an individual practitioner abuses the privilege of exercising
proper medical judgment, the usual remedies, judicial
and intra-professional, are available.). But providers
chafe at regulations of the sort at issue here, which
single them out in the name of protecting health and
saddle them with vexatious requirements that simply
dont make sense from a medical perspective. While
States no doubt have considerable [regulatory] discretion, that discretion does not permit [them] to
adopt abortion regulations that depart from accepted
medical practice. Simopoulos v. Virginia, 462 U.S.

23
506, 516 (1983); see also Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reproductive Health, Inc., 462 U.S. 416, 437-38 (1983)
(striking an ordinance that imposed a heavy, and unnecessary, burden and was out of step with present
medical knowledge) (quoting Roe, 410 U.S. at 163).11
The admitting privileges and ASC regulations fall
squarely in that category.
The oddities of Texass regulations are glaring.
The State bars a physician from performing even the
lowest risk early abortion proceduresincluding nonsurgical medication abortionexcept in an ASC and
only if she first obtains hospital admitting privileges.
Yet if the very same physician decides to perform any
number of riskier non-abortion procedures, she is free
to do so in a non-ASC setting and without admitting
privileges. Cf. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 199 (1973)
(striking a law requiring a doctor to obtain assent
from two consulting physicians before performing an
abortiona requirement applicable to no other voluntary medical or surgical procedure in the State).
That double standard makes it difficult to see the
challenged requirements as genuine health regulations at all, much less as ones that have been tailored
to recognized state interests. Roe, 410 U.S. at 165.

While Casey later overruled certain portions of Akron, it left

undisturbed the principle that a States discretion to regulate
on th[e] basis [of maternal health] does not permit it to adopt
abortion regulations that depart from accepted medical
practice. 462 U.S. at 431.

11

24
II. TEXASS HEAVY-HANDED REGULATION
OF ABORTION PROVIDERS WILL HARM
WOMEN.
The problem with Texass admitting privileges
and ASC requirements is not just that they are medically unjustified; it is that they will harm the very
people they supposedly protect by making it immensely more difficult for women to obtain good reproductive care. Because these regulations impose a
real health risk, they cannot stand. Casey, 505 U.S.
at 885-86 (upholding a 24-hour waiting period requirement only after determining that it did not create any appreciable health risk). States should not be
permitted to outlaw the common, long-accepted, and
medically sound practice of having trained physicians, whatever their admitting privilege status, provide abortion care in non-ASC clinics. Cf. Planned
Parenthood of Cent. Mo. v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, 7879 (1976) (rejecting a ban on the most commonly
used method of terminating pregnancies after the
first trimester).
A. Texass regulations would severely restrict womens access to trained providers.
The regulations at issue here pack an insidious
one-two punch. The admitting privileges requirement
serves as a major barrier for physicians who specialize in abortion care. Most such physicians do not qualify for admitting privileges under hospitals usual
criterianot because of any deficiency in their ability
to perform safe abortions, but rather precisely because abortion is so safe that they almost never have

25
occasion to admit their patients to a hospital. The
ASC requirement, meanwhile, poses significant difficulties for all providers, but it is especially problematic for physicians who offer abortion care as one part
of a broader medical practice. While some of these
physicians may do enough hospital-based work to
qualify for admitting privileges, they usually provide
abortions in a stand-alone clinic. Requiring them to
use ASCs rather than other clinical facilities is a severe impediment, both because ASCs are prohibitively expensive to build and maintain and also
because they will tend to be more geographically removed from the rest of a physicians practice.12
The upshot is that the admitting privileges and
ASC requirements together would result in shuttering three-quarters of the abortion facilities present in
Texas before passage of H.B. 2. And this in a State
where abortion and other family planning services are
already undersupplied. If these regulations are upheld, Texas will have taken a decisive step toward becoming a place where a womans choice exists in
theory but not in fact. Casey, 505 U.S. at 872. The
physicians profiled below have witnessed the impact
of similar laws first hand.
***

12 Due to a combination of historical factors, state laws, and

institutional rules, most hospitals and surgical centers do not
permit abortions except in rare circumstances. Thus, as a
practical matter, Texass ASC requirement means that
specialized abortion-oriented ASCs are the only places where
abortions can be performed.

26
Herbert Hodes, M.D. & Traci Nauser, M.D.
Dr. Hodes and Dr. Nauser are a father and daughter team who operate the Center for Womens Health in
Overland Park, Kansas, where they provide a full
range of reproductive services, including abortion. As
in Texas, abortion in Kansas is heavily regulated (including facility licensing and admitting privileges requirements that are currently enjoined), and the State
has a history of harassment and violence against providers.
Dr. Hodes: I received my medical training and
did my OB-GYN residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the early 1970s where I saw
first-hand what happens when women are not able to
access legal abortion. Back then we had wards of sick
patients whod had criminal abortion procedures. I
performed hysterectomies on young women who were
septic; it was the only way to save their lives. I saw
that women would always try to find a way to end an
unwanted pregnancy, and once it became legal, I
wanted to make sure it was done properly.
Being an abortion provider has altered the way I
live my life. I worry about violence, and about my family being harmed because of what I do. When Traci
(Dr. Nauser) decided to go to medical school I was
worried that she wouldnt get accepted because of
what I do.
TRAP [targeted regulation of abortion providers]
laws do not advance womens health; they are purely
punitive. In Kansas, the State has imposed admitting

27
privileges and facility licensing requirements reminiscent of those in Texas, which have since been preliminarily enjoined. Such requirements are medically
unjustified and make it that much more difficult for
good providers to deliver the care their patients need.
It is extremely rare that Ive had to send a patient to
the hospital for abortion-related complications. Hospitals will see a patient regardless of whether or not
her doctor has admitting privileges. There are cataract and orthopedic surgeons who travel around the
country performing surgeries that are far riskier than
abortions. Requiring surgeons to have admitting privileges is unheard of, except for abortion providers.
Similarly, our current office is not an ASC, and theres
no reason it should be. Complying with an ASC requirement would be hugely difficult and expensive
and would do nothing to help our patients.
If access to abortion is curtailed, women with
money will travel great distances to receive safe abortions. But poor women will buy drugs online, or induce abortions in other ways, or go to Mexico if theyre
near the border. There will be medical complications.
Women will die.
Dr. Nauser: Growing up as the adopted daughter
of an OB-GYN physician who provides abortions, I
have experienced harassment first-hand. But I always knew that I wanted to become an amazing,
skilled, and well-respected physician like my father,
who provided complete and compassionate care for
women no matter what their reproductive health care
needs were. I received my medical degree from the
University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicines combined six-year B.A./M.D. program, and did

28
a residency in OB-GYN there as well at Truman Medical Center and St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City.
Now my father, Dr. Hodes, and I provide a full range
of obstetrical and gynecological services. To name a
few, we deliver babies, provide prenatal care, contraceptive care, infertility treatments, office-based gynecological surgeries, hospital-based surgeries such as
hysterectomies, and we perform elective and medically indicated terminations up to 22 weeks. Terminations form only a fraction of our practice. Many of our
patients will never need a termination, but they
choose us because we provide women safe, skilled,
compassionate, nonjudgmental complete reproductive healthcare. Many patients who initially came to
us for a termination in one pregnancy have later returned to us in another pregnancy for prenatal care
and to deliver their baby. Helping a woman during a
difficult time in her life and then helping her welcome
a child later is an extremely rewarding and gratifying
privilege.
TRAP laws like the admitting privileges and ASC
requirements in Texas do not advance womens
health. They actually increase risks and cause harm.
For example, an office-based D&C procedure for an
extremely heavy menstrual cycle, a miscarriage, or
endometrial biopsy can be done with simple surgical
counseling and consent, and the procedure takes two
to three minutes. Once the patient is deemed clinically suitable for discharge (usually 10-20 minutes
later), she can go home. However, for a surgicallyidentical D&C procedure for an abortion, per the law
everything is different. Just to name a few examples,
the procedure room must be a certain size and temperature, a registered nurse must be used, the woman

29
must go to a specific recovery room of a specific size
for no less than two hours, and she must receive specific follow up. All four of those procedures are surgically identical. Yet only one faces additional
regulatory hurdles that do not do anything to advance
womens health and safety.
If it becomes too difficult for womenespecially
low-income women who cant travel to receive care because they dont have the funds, or have other children to care for, or cant take time off from their jobs
theyre going to turn to underground, illegal drugs
and unsafe, unqualified providers. Without access to
legal abortion care by trained providers, women will
go back to being harmed or dying from botched abortions as in the pre-Roe days.
When Dr. Hodes retires, it will be difficult for me
to find a new partner because I provide terminations
as part of a private OB-GYN practice. But I cant stop
providing terminations. Women need someone willing
to provide the safest abortion care available. How can
you turn someone away when youre an OB-GYN,
trained to take care of a woman completely? The
stigma, fear, and politics associated with abortion
care are the reasons why most OB-GYNs wont do it,
but its unacceptable. Were trained to take care of
women, not partially take care of women.
***

30
D.B., M.D. (continued from Section I.B)
Dr. B. has an OB-GYN practice and provides abortions in Louisiana, which (among many other regulations) has an admitting privileges requirement that is
currently enjoined.
In addition to my work at the Hope Clinic in
Shreveport, I also have a private full-service OB-GYN
practice, one of the largest in this area, where I do not
perform abortions. Im one of the very few doctors to
do both. Its hard to relate to people how difficult it is
to be a physician who maintains a private practice in
OB-GYN and also performs abortions. People marginalize you, discriminate against you, harass you. And
thats one of the reasons why you end up with doctors
having to choose between doing routine OB-GYN care
or abortion care. At one point we had as many as
seven doctors providing abortion care in the Shreveport area, but one by one they stopped.
As a result, most doctors who provide abortions do
not have admitting privilegesthey have been basically forced to specialize, and doctors who only provide abortions dont use the hospital enough to get
admitting privileges. Louisiana passed an admitting
privileges law like the one in Texas, but it is currently
preliminarily enjoined. At the time it went into effect,
I was the only provider in the State with admitting
privileges. My colleague at the Hope Clinic, an excellent and experienced physician, was unable to obtain
admitting privileges from any of our three local hospitals. If the admitting privileges law goes into effect,
I would be the only provider in the Shreveport area.

31
And if Louisiana imposes an ASC requirement (something Im sure theyd do if the Texas one is upheld),
the situation will be even more dire. Complying with
an ASC requirement would be extremely burdensomemaybe even financially or logistically impossible. The combination of these laws would cripple us.
Lack of access to abortion services has negative
health consequences for women. If women have to
wait longer to get an abortion, they will be further
along in their pregnancy and are more likely to have
a complication. Its safest to do abortions in the first
trimester and, if possible, the first half of the first trimester. Already people seem to be traveling farther to
get an abortion. Although a majority of our patients
still come from around northern Louisiana, were beginning to see patients from Texas at the clinic. We
also see patients from Mississippi and southern Louisiana. The irony of the admitting privileges law is
that patients are now traveling 180 or more miles to
get an abortion. What good do admitting privileges do
if they go home and have a complication there?
I dont think I would continue to provide abortions
if I were the only one doing so in the Shreveport area.
Already an anti-abortion group from outside Shreveport protested outside my private practice. They told
one of my patients, the mother of a one-week old, as
she was coming into my building that I would kill her
baby when she reached my office. They left posters
and flyers all over the neighborhood where I live urging people to attack me on religious grounds. Im fearful that if Im the only provider, I will become the
primary target, and they will treat me like Dr. Tiller
[who was murdered in Kansas in 2009].

32
But for now I will continue to provide abortion
care. The reason I do what I do is because Im trying
to help women have a better outcome because I believe they deserve it.
B. Access
health.

restrictions

harm

womens

Womens health suffers when the law impedes access to safe abortion services. The provider narratives
identify at least three ways in which the precipitous
decline in available abortion facilities and providers
in Texas will endanger womens health.
First, womens care will be significantly delayed.
With fewer clinics and physicians to meet a demand
for care that already strains the capacity of the States
providers, women will inevitably have to wait longer
for appointments and procedures. Moreover, women
will have to travel much farther on average to reach
providers, which will also postpone care.
As a result of distance and delays, fewer women
will be able to end their pregnancies at the earliest
stage, when health risks are lowest. While abortions
further in pregnancy remain very safe as medical procedures go, they are more invasive, take a greater
physical and emotional toll on the patient, and have a
higher complication rate than early terminationsa
reality this Court has long recognized. See Doe, 410
U.S. at 198 (Time, of course, is critical in abortion.
Risks during the first trimester of pregnancy are admittedly lower than during later months.).

33
Second, women will increasingly resort to riskier
measures to end pregnancies. History and experience
teach a clear lesson: When safe abortion care becomes
more difficult to access, injuries and death from unsafe abortions rise.13 Some women will seek out illegal
providers whose services may fall tragically short of
prevailing standards of care. Others will try to selfinduce, turning to black-market drugs, unregulated
herbs, self-surgery, and worse. Even before the enactment of the admitting privileges and ASC requirements, Texass Rio Grande Valleya place where
women have limited access to legal abortion care
had one of the countrys highest rates of self-induced
abortion. See Daniel Grossman et al., The Public
Health Threat of Anti-Abortion Legislation, 89
Contraception 73, 73-74 (2014).
Third, even for women who manage to obtain
treatment at one of the States remaining facilities,
continuity of care will be disrupted. These women will
more often be farther from home, being cared for by
physicians unfamiliar to them. Should a complication
arise during or immediately after the procedure, they
will not be able to turn to their usual doctors and support networks for assistance. Should a complication
arise later, they will have greater difficulty following
up with the physician who treated them. And even
when the procedure goes smoothly (as it usually will),
providers will have fewer opportunities to address pa-

13 International data on this point is especially striking: When

South Africa liberalized its abortion laws, it saw a 91% drop in
abortion-related deaths. See Guttmacher Inst., Facts on Induced
Abortion Worldwide (Jan. 2012), http://tinyurl.com/z25op2p.

34
tients broader reproductive health and family planning needs. Dr. Sarah Wallett elaborates on these
points.
***
Sarah Wallett, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Wallett teaches abortion care and provides
abortion and other gynecological services in Kentuckyanother State with onerous regulations and
limited abortion access.
I grew up in Lexington, South Carolina. My dad
works in business and my mom is a school teacher. I
was raised Lutheran. My family went to church regularly, said prayers before meals, and most of all believed we were duty-bound to help people in need.
I dont know exactly when I decided to become an
abortion provider. Growing up we never talked about
abortion in my family or at my school. If someone had
asked me, I would have said abortion is bad because
that was the sense I got growing up in the South. But
when I got to college, I began thinking more deeply
about the issue and what it meant to women. And in
medical school, when I decided to be an OB-GYN and
take care of women, it became clear to me that being
able to provide abortion care was a part of this.
My goal as an abortion provider is to create a nonjudgmental space for women to make their decision
and to provide the best quality medical care. The
longer I have worked in this area, taking care of patients in so many different situations with different

35
responsibilities, medical histories, or family structures, the more I recognize that it isnt my role to have
a say in their decision. I feel really good providing this
care because I know Im helping these women when
they need it. Thats my calling as a doctor.
After finishing my residency and a two-year family planning fellowship at the University of Michigan,
I decided to move back to the South and took a position in Kentucky teaching family planning and abortion care. I provide general gynecological care for
women, but I do not provide abortion care because
Kentucky law prohibits the provision of abortion at
state facilities unless it is to save the life of a woman.
This really impedes my ability to teach students and
residents how to deliver abortion care.
Im trying to figure out a way to provide abortion
care more regularly now because it is clear that my
patients dont have access. There is only one full-service abortion clinic in all of Kentucky, and its a 3-4
hour drive from eastern Kentucky, one of the most impoverished areas in the United States. I often have to
tell my patients that I cant take care of them because
of legal restrictions. This is heartbreaking since I
have the skills and the facilities to provide this care.
Limited access to abortion in Kentucky leads to
long waiting lists at the one full-service clinic. It often
takes several weeks before a patient can get an appointment. These weeks matter. Sometimes what
could have been an earlier medical abortion becomes
a later surgical abortion, which is riskier for the
womans health.

36
I recently had a patient who came to see me in my
general clinic. She had been raped and was pregnant.
She had Medicaid, which in Kentucky will pay for
abortion in the case of rape, but I couldnt provide her
care where I work because of state law, and the abortion clinic does not take insurance. After trying in
vain to figure out how to get care, she ended up traveling out of state several weeks later to have a surgical abortion, paying out of pocket. It was horrible for
her. And weeks earlier she was sitting in my office,
having made the decision that she did not want to continue the pregnancy. I am a very well-trained physician. I did an extra two years of work so that I know
the most I can about abortion. I could have easily
cared for her at that moment, providing her with a
medical abortion. It was just state laws severely restricting where abortions can be performed that prevented me from continuing to care for that patient,
and providing her with the earliest, safest abortion.
So many of the restrictions in place right now
across the country from a medical perspective are
clearly not about providing good medical care for
women. For example, theres no medical reason for a
woman to be required to take abortion medications at
a surgical center. These regulations are about taking
away access, and taking away access doesnt make
abortion not happen. Women will have abortions, and
we can make them safe by providing access to good
medical care, or we can create so many obstacles that
women will find a way to have them without safe good
medical care.
***

37
If a womans right to retain the ultimate control
over her destiny and her body is to have the real
substance that this Courts decisions promise, Casey,
505 U.S. at 869, then surely regulations that so flagrantly limit access and imperil healthas Texass
admitting privileges and ASC requirements do cannot stand.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the decision of Court of Appeals should be reversed.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas M. Bondy
E. Joshua Rosenkranz
Susannah Landes Weaver Counsel of Record
ORRICK, HERRINGTON & Sarah M. Sternlieb
SUTCLIFFE LLP
ORRICK, HERRINGTON &
1152 15th Street, NW
SUTCLIFFE LLP
51 West 52nd Street
Washington, DC 20005
New York, NY 10019
(212) 506-5000
[email protected]
January 4, 2016