Women lawyers file brief in 'most important abortion case in a decade'

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments March 2 in Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, a Texas case in which abortion rights advocates are challenging restrictions on abortion clinics that could result in shuttering many facilities. They claim the regulations pose an “undue burden” on women’s rights.

The National Law Journal called the case “the most important abortion rights case in nearly a decade.”

A story on The National Law Journal website reports that in that case “more than 100 female lawyers joined in a brief to tell the U.S. Supreme Court about their own abortion experiences and “why their reproductive freedom was pivotal to their personal and professional lives.”

The law journal reports that the brief was signed by “former judges, law professors, law firm partners, public interest lawyers and law clerks, though none who clerked for the high court itself.”

"One-third of women have had abortions, including justices' colleagues, law school classmates, advocates who have appeared before them and people they have worked with," one signer said. "We wanted to signal to members of the court that abortion is not just an abstract concept."

Read more at Women Lawyers Tell Supreme Court About Their Own Abortions (may require registration)