SCOTUSblog by Leah Litman and Steve Vladeck 2/3/2020
In June Medical Services v. Gee, the major abortion case the Supreme Court is set to hear on March 4, both Louisiana and its amici have framed the state’s cross-petition as raising a question of “third-party standingâ€â€”a claim that abortion providers are not the proper parties to challenge anti-abortion laws. But their arguments make clear that the cross-petition is really about standing itself, not third-party standing—and specifically about whether a plaintiff who experiences an injury in fact will be allowed to sue in federal court going forward.
June Medical involves a Louisiana law that requires physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they administer the procedure. If a doctor without admitting privileges performs an abortion, they may be imprisoned or fined. Clinics that employ such doctors can have their licenses revoked; they may also be fined or face civil liability. Much of the discussion on the merits is focused on whether the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, striking down a similar Texas law, requires the same result here. But Louisiana cross-petitioned for certiorari in Gee v. June Medical Services, arguing that the case should be dismissed (and the law allowed to go into effect) because the plaintiffs doesn’t have standing. Perhaps reflecting a lack of confidence on the merits, the state’s alternative position is that the case should just go away.
The Supreme Court has long read into Article III of the Constitution a requirement that plaintiffs have “standing,†meaning that they can show (1) an injury in fact that is (2) fairly traceable to the defendant’s allegedly wrongful conduct and (3) redressable through a favorable judicial ruling. There is no question that the plaintiffs in June Medical meet this test: They are doctors and clinics who face imprisonment, civil liability, license revocation and fines under Louisiana’s admitting-privileges law. Louisiana’s admitting-privileges law (as enforced by Rebekah Gee in her capacity as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health) causes those injuries, and a court order enjoining the law would redress them.
More:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/02/symposium-june-medical-services-and-the-future-of-article-iii-standing-in-abortion-cases/#more-291638
