By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Supreme Court ruled on June Medical Services v. Russo, which struck down a Louisiana law requiring those who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Kansas First District Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall, an obstetrician and gynecologist, commented on the ruling.
"This decision by the Supreme Court scares me," Marshall said. "I'm really afraid it could impact women's lives. The situation is, if a woman has an abortion at a clinic and she has a complication, she's going to go to the emergency room, right? I end up having to take care of complications of this doctor in Wichita who is doing the abortions, I have to take care of the complications as a gynecologist, right? The whole idea is if you're doing procedures and you can't take care of the complications, then you shouldn't be doing them."
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote an opinion to side with four of his colleagues that requiring the admitting privileges is an undue burden on the clinics, because, in effect, it would reduce the entire state to having just one properly credentialed abortion provider.
"The whole idea is, if you're doing procedures in an outpatient basis, you should be able to take care of the complications, as well," Marshall said. "This lowers the care of women, regardless of where they are being done. I think that's beside the point."
Roberts ultimately decided that the Louisiana case was so similar to a previous case the Court had decided in Texas that in order to uphold the principle of stare decisis – the idea that courts should generally not overrule their prior precedents, he needed to agree with the justices ruling to strike down the law.