In this clip, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow speaks with Nancy Northup, the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, about the ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt to strike down two contested provisions in Texas' omnibus antiabortion-rights law (HB 2).
Northup, whose group spearheaded the legal challenge against the Texas provisions, says of the ruling, "[T]his is a complete and total win." She explains, "It changes the tide. It pushes back on what we've seen -- the hundreds of laws that have passed, these restrictions on access to abortion that have been shutting down clinics," adding, "[T]his is day one of turning around" and getting "these laws ... off the books."
Touching on what similar state laws might be affected next, Northup notes that the Supreme Court has refused to consider similar restrictions that have been blocked in Mississippi and Wisconsin, while the Alabama attorney general has dropped the state's effort to defend another targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) law. She said, "So you're already seeing action. There are a lot of cases that are going on around the nation ... We're going to be right back into those courts saying, 'Hey, here's the new ruling from the Supreme Court, and you need to follow it.'"
Northup adds, "And we're going to be looking across the nation to see what else we need to be suing on. And it's not just about filing lawsuits, because it's also about the public putting pressure on their elected officials. [The public] now ha[s] a clear decision that says this tactic of passing so-called health and safety laws was totally bogus." Northup concludes, "It's important for us to go to court, but it's also important for people to look at what's happening in their state and say, 'enough is enough'" (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 6/29).
