Texans did not have much time to get used to a judge’s ruling Monday that struck down a key provision of the state’s restrictive abortion law before another court on Thursday reinstated it. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals makes it a requirement once more that abortion providers obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel overturned that part of the law, which Wendy Davis famously filibustered, saying it unfairly restricted abortion access. But the Fifth Circuit said the provision would stay in place while a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and others, went ahead. So for now, Texas is back to having some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.
