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The law is among hundreds of abortion restrictions passed around the country in the past several years. Lawyers for the state of Louisiana say this one was written to protect women. Opponents say it was meant to make it essentially impossible to get abortions.

Only one of the six doctors at Louisiana's five abortion clinics — an obstetrician who also does a few abortions — "unequivocally" would be able to meet the law's requirements, attorney Ilene Jaroslaw said. She said the others all applied for admitting privileges before the lawsuit was filed in August but have not received them.

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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry praised the ruling and said in a statement that it allows "Louisiana's pro-life and pro-woman admitting privileges law to go into effect." He called the law "a reasonable, common-sense safety measure."

"Anyone who has outpatient surgery would expect her doctor to admit her to a hospital in the event of complications; women seeking abortions should have the same assurance of prompt care," Landry said.

Northup countered that abortion "is extremely safe" and that getting admitting privileges at hospitals "can be very difficult" because of "hospital policies or biases against abortion providers."

The lawsuit contends that Louisiana does not require doctors performing procedures other than abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. "Physicians perform similar, and often higher risk, outpatient procedures in their offices without admitting privileges," it says.

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Three doctors, they [the assholes from the state] said, have admitting privileges “that allow them to continue to provide abortions in two of the major population centers in Louisiana — Shreveport and New Orleans.”

“At worst,” the state told the justices, the law “would still leave over 90 percent of Louisiana women within 150 miles of an operating abortion clinic.”

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Louisiana laws impose other restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period after a first trip to a clinic, at which a doctor must describe an ultrasound to the woman seeking an abortion.