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Top Stories: Supreme Court Likely To Hand Down Ruling On Texas Abortion Restrictions

Allison Shelley/The Texas Tribune
Lauren Baker (right) of Plano and Mary Baumgard of Minnesota held signs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court March 2, 2016, as the court arguments in a case on a Texas abortion law.

The top local stories this morning from KERA News: We’ll likely learn the fate of abortion restrictions in Texas in about a half-hour when the U.S. Supreme Court releases its final rulings of the term.

At issue is whether restrictions under House Bill 2 - passed in 2013 - place an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions.

The bill requires physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges in a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. Clinics also have to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers.

If the Supreme Court allows the law to stand, only nine of the 19 abortion clinics left in the state since HB 2 passed are expected to remain open. The outcome of the ruling will also affect 12 other states who’ve approved similar restrictions.

Other stories this morning:

  • Thomas Yu swept top honors Saturday at the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition. The contest is for pianists who don’t make their living performing or teaching music.
  • Police are seeing more cases of pot-laced cookies and candies made and sold in the U.S., and they’re being imported into states like Texas where marijuana’s illegal. This edition of Vital Signs explores the dangers.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. 

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.