The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, declared unconstitutional the Texas law that would have forced the closure of half of the remaining abortion clinics throughout the state.

“This is a major victory for women’s health and lives in Texas and throughout the nation. But women’s rights advocates must continue to fight until women’s bodies are no longer stripped of their humanity and used as battling grounds for political gains in male-dominated state legislatures and Congress,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. “We must not let down our guard. Until the Supreme Court slams shut the door that permits state legislatures and Congress to chip away at this fundamental right and decides, once and for all, that women have the right to make their own health decisions, including whether or not to have an abortion, we must continue to elevate the voices of the majority of women across the country who demand this right,” continued Smeal.

“We cannot forget that since 2010 our state legislatures have passed hundreds of measures that restrict access to abortion and birth control, and have already resulted in the closure of roughly half the clinics in Texas alone. Moreover, in the 2016 election, many candidates for state legislature, Congress, and the presidency, are pledged to ban access to abortion and to limit access to birth control. The balance of the Supreme Court will be determined by the next President. The closeness of this decision calls attention to the high stakes for women in this next election and for the next quarter of a century. In fact, this election may determine for millions of women their reproductive fate and the course of their lives,” Smeal concluded.

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