Advocates Rally in New Orleans to #StopTheSham

Today, more than a hundred people gathered together outside the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to show support for abortion access. The rally, organized with the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, aimed to raise awareness about Louisiana’s admitting privileges law and the Whole Women’s Health case which was argued before the Supreme Court today.

Louisiana’s law went into effect last week after the Fifth Circuit granted the state’s request for an emergency stay overturning a federal district court’s decision to block the law from taking effect. The has resulted in clinic closures and severely diminished capacity with only one doctor each at the two clinics that are still open.

The crowd today listened to speakers discuss the impact of not only this law, but the cumulative impact that laws and regulations targeting providers have had on women’s access to safe and legal access to abortion.