Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Big News From Louisiana

This is a huge deal for women across the state.

Here's an incredible sentence: A federal judge has ruled that a mandate requiring abortion providers in Louisiana to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of their clinics is unconstitutional.

Fed Ct blocks Louisiana's TX-style clinic shutdown law that threatens to shutter all but 1 of 5 clinics in LA. @ReproRights #WeWontGoBack— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) January 27, 2016

Sound confusing? That's because it was written by people who didn't want you to understand it. But as someone who spent three years working for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, take it from me—this is a huge deal for women across the state.

To put it in simpler terms: Right now, the state of Louisiana has six licensed abortion providers. If this law had been upheld, that number would have dropped to two.

There are more than 4.5 million people living in Louisiana. This mandate, and similar restrictions in other states, make it incredibly difficult for women (especially low-income women and women of color) to exercise their reproductive rights—and can make doing so a costly, onerous thing to do.

I am thrilled that the court has protected abortion access—especially in a state where women's rights are constantly being threatened. But this fight is not over.

Laws like this are popping up all over the country, all with one purpose: to eliminate access to safe and legal abortion, or make a constitutional right a privilege only for those who can afford it. And this year, the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of a similar law in my home state of Texas that amounts to the biggest challenge to Roe v. Wade in a generation.

That's one of the reasons I joined Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. At a time when we are in danger of losing our reproductive rights, women need a fighter in the White House.

I'll take on Republicans or anyone who tries to interfere with women's health. Proud to have @PPact's support in this important election. -H— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 7, 2016

We need someone who will not only stand up to attacks in Louisiana and across the country, but actually advance reproductive rights.?Proudly stand with Planned Parenthood. Fight to bring this country into the 21st century with equal pay and paid leave. Get rid of laws like the Hyde Amendment once and for all, and call out restrictions that disproportionately harm low-income women and women of color. In short: We need a president who gets it, and who is in this fight alongside us.

Every woman has the right to safe and legal abortion. Louisiana lawmakers may have forgotten that—but thankfully, a federal judge didn't.