John Roberts Hands a Victory to the Likes of Kermit Gosnell

Four years after voting to uphold a modest state law regulating abortion clinics, John Roberts votes to strike down a nearly identical law.

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Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and his wife Jane depart following the State of the Union address, February 5, 2019.

Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Four years ago, the Supreme Court held in a 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt that a 2013 Texas law treating abortion clinics like other outpatient surgical centers was unconstitutional.

In his Hellerstedt dissent, Justice Samuel Alito took care to explain why Texas had enacted the law in the first place: to protect women from the likes of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

John McCormack

About the Author

John McCormack

John McCormack is a former Washington correspondent for National Review and was a fellow at the National Review Institute.

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