This includes “unnecessary health regulations,” the court said in 1992. The Texas case has been seen as a crucial test of a state’s power to regulate the practice of abortion. The decision is the court's clearest pronouncement since 1992 on abortion, and it makes clear that states may not impose health regulations that severely restrict the right to abortion. About the half of the state’s 40 abortion providers closed after the admitting-privileges rule took effect, but the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the surgical-center requirement. On Twitter: DavidGSavageALSO:Supreme Court rules on abortion access: Live updates from the court plazaUPDATES:7:39 a.m.: This post was updated with an excerpt from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s concurring opinion.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 27, 2016 14:10 UTC