Abortion provider Amy Hagstrom Miller faced the Supreme Court today in Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellerstedt.
Miller and her group of clinics, Whole Woman's Health, have brought challenges to tightening Texas laws intended to make providing abortions nearly impossible. On Wednesday, Miller released a statement on the case after exiting the Supreme Court.
"I’m proud to say that I’ve spent my professional life providing compassionate, dignified and respectful care to women seeking abortion," Miller said. "The Texas legislature tried to take that away with the stroke of a pen. Today we asked the Supreme Court to help us stand up to the bullies who want to control our health and our lives."
Miller is fighting House Bill 2, or HB2, which according to journalist Valerie Tarico, "bans abortions after 20 weeks, severely restricts access to medication abortion, forces doctors to seek (otherwise unnecessary) hospital admitting privileges, and requires that all abortion care take place in a surgical center. Under the law, staff are forced to walk a woman into an operating theater before handing her two abortion pills and a glass of water."
Miller called it a "harsh, cruel" law which does not prioritize women's health.
"Today we stood up for the woman from Lubbock who will drive over 250 miles one way to end her pregnancy," Miller wrote. "We stood up for the mom from Laredo who will look through her cabinets, hoping to find something that will end her own pregnancy because she can’t afford the travel, the child care or the multiple days off work that have become part of getting an abortion in Texas."
She blasted the opposition for using "junk science" in their arguments against abortion providers.
"While our opposition hides behind junk science and secret stings, we have made our case openly and honestly, and we stand in the light," Miller said in the statement. "Our case, Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellerstedt, isn’t about one clinic or even one state. It is about every single one of us. Because we all should expect equality, dignity, and justice in making our own health decisions. At Whole Woman’s Health we know we’re on the right side of history—and we’re hopeful that the court will be as well."
