Much remained unclear after the ruling, including whether and when abortion clinics that had already closed because of the admitting-privileges rule would reopen. Rick Perry signed the bill into law, Texas had 41 facilities providing abortions. Abortion providers and other critics of the law said it was a thinly disguised attempt to shut down clinics that had been providing safe, legal abortions. Dan Patrick, a Republican who is an outspoken opponent of abortion, called the ruling “a devastating blow” to the protection of women’s health and safety in Texas. “By its ruling, the court held that the ability of abortion clinics to remain open, even under substandard conditions, outweighs the state’s ability to put women’s health and safety first,” Mr. Patrick said in a statement.

Source: New York Times June 27, 2016 17:12 UTC