By Theresa Schliep
Stephanie Toti, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, waits for a hearing to begin in 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
A Fordham alum and adjunct professor of Fordham Law School, Stephanie Toti, recently challenged two Texas laws restricting abortions at the Supreme Court in one of the most significant abortion cases to reach the court.
Toti, FCRH ’00 and the lead counsel for the plaintiff in Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, argued against a pair of laws in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 2. The case challenges several Texas laws that would result in the closure of about 30 abortion facilities in Texas, decreasing the number of functioning facilities to nine or ten.
Toti, a practicing Catholic does not regard her influence in this case as a conflict with her position as a Fordham faculty member.
“I think the university values academic freedom,” she said. “In order to provide law students with the best education, they need to interact with different ideas and backgrounds.”
The university denied to comment on Toti’s position in this case.
Toti is attempting to repeal Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP laws. Passed in 2013, the laws require that abortion facilities be ambulatory surgical centers and that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges.
She argued that these regulations place an undue burden on women seeking abortions. According to Bloomberg Politics, the law’s opponents contend that the regulation’s true goal is to close down three-quarters of the state’s clinics and reduce abortions. In addition, it is fairly uncommon for doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals, and for abortion facilities to have ambulatory surgical centers.
Hospitals are not required by law to give admitting privileges.
“These hospitals essentially have veto power over whether or not a doctor can provide abortions,” Toti said.
Additionally, Toti argued that the ambulatory surgical center requirement is unnecessary as abortions are “already a very safe procedure.”
According to Toti, the requirements from the ambulatory surgery center calls for all abortion procedures be performed in very expensive surgery centers. However, Toti’s feels that his is unnecessary. “Comparable procedures are typically performed in doctors offices and in clinics,” said Toti.
The restrictions these laws enforce would allow about nine or ten to remain open, which Toti believed places this undue burden on women in Texas.
“The law creates these substantial obstacles for women that aren’t medically justified because these requirements will not enhance the safety of abortion. Leading national medical associations, including the American Medical Association, have confirmed to the Supreme Court that these laws aren’t medically necessary,” said Toti.
Tori argued these laws not only fail to improve the safety of abortions, but endanger the health of women seeking abortions.
“Women will be delayed in accessing abortions, and later abortion procedures are more complex and entail higher risk than earlier abortions,” she said.
After the death of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Antonin Scalia, this case has the potential to establish precedents in reproductive practices. A trial court had shut down the law, but an appellate court Toti described as “very conservative” appealed it. If there is a majority decision on the side of Whole Woman’s Health, the laws will be struck down, news sources report. If there is a four to four tie, possible with the vacant seat, the appellate court’s decision will remain.
Toti argued that the purpose of these laws is not to ensure the safety of abortion procedures, but rather to prevent abortions from occurring.
“The purpose is to close abortion clinics and to try and prevent women from having abortions,” said Toti.
Toti is an adjunct professor in reproductive rights and legal writing at Fordham Law School. She graduated from Fordham University with undergraduate degrees in political science and mathematics, and obtained her law degree from New York University School of Law. She is also a Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights.