Supreme Court still weighing Louisiana abortion law

The Supreme Court on Friday extended a temporary hold on a Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Justice Samuel Alito said in a brief order that the court needs more time to review the arguments for and against the law, which the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld in September. That decision broke with the precedent set by the Supreme Court in 2016 in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which declared a similar law in Texas unconstitutional. The 5th Circuit ruled that Louisiana’s law does not impose a “substantial burden” on women seeking an abortion since, unlike hospitals in Texas, Louisiana hospitals rarely require abortionists to admit a minimum annual number of patients.