Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf
Page Number: 90

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

9 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

a legitimate medical need and is medically reasonable even
in the face of medical and scientific uncertainty.  Gonzales 
v.  Carhart,  550  U. S.  124,  163  (2007);  Mazurek  v.  Arm-
strong, 520 U. S. 968, 973 (1997) (per curiam); Akron v. Ak-
ron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc., 462 U. S. 416, 458 
(1983) (O’Connor, J., dissenting) (“[L]egislatures are better
suited”  than  courts  “to  make  the  necessary  factual  judg-
ments in this area”); accord, Barsky v. Board of Regents of 
Univ. of N. Y., 347 U. S. 442, 451 (1954) (State has “legiti-
mate  concern  for  maintaining  high  standards  of  profes-
sional conduct” in the practice of medicine).  Louisiana eas-
ily satisfied this standard. 

For  these  reasons,  both  the  plurality  and  THE  CHIEF 
JUSTICE err in concluding that the admitting-privileges re-
quirement serves no valid purpose. 

III 
They also err in their assessment of Act 620’s likely effect 
on access to abortion.  They misuse the doctrine of stare de-
cisis  and  the  standard  of  appellate  review  for  findings  of 
fact. 

A 
Stare decisis is a major theme in the plurality opinion and 
that of THE CHIEF JUSTICE.  Both opinions try to create the 
impression  that  this  case  is  the  same  as  Whole  Woman’s 
Health and that stare decisis therefore commands the same 
result.  In truth, however, the two cases are very different.
While it is certainly true that the Texas and Louisiana stat-
utes are largely the same, the two cases are not.  The deci-
sion in Whole Woman’s Health was not based on the face of 
the  Texas  statute,  but  on  an  empirical  question,  namely, 
the effect of the statute on access to abortion in that State. 
579 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 24).  The Court’s answer to that 
question  depended  on  numerous  factors  that  may  differ 
from State to State, including the demand for abortions, the