Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf
Page Number: 36.0

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

31 

Opinion of BREYER, J. 

said, however, “the trial on the merits should be ‘the “main 
event” . . . rather than a “tryout on the road.” ’ ” Anderson, 
470 U. S., at 575.  “[T]he parties to a case on appeal have
already  been  forced  to  concentrate  their  energies  and  re-
sources on persuading the trial judge that their account of 
the  facts  is  the  correct  one;  requiring  them  to  persuade
three more judges at the appellate level”—let alone another
nine in this Court—“is requiring too much.”  Ibid. 

Other Doctors
  Finally,  JUSTICE  ALITO  and JUSTICE  GORSUCH  suggest
that the District Court failed to account for the possibility 
that new abortion providers might eventually replace Does 
1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.  See post, at 11–12 (opinion of ALITO, J.); 
post, at 11–13 (opinion of GORSUCH, J.).  But the Court of 
Appeals did not dispute, and the record supports, the Dis-
trict Court’s additional finding that, for “the same reasons 
that Does 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 have had difficulties getting active
admitting privileges, reasons unrelated to their competence 
. . .  it  is  unlikely  that  the  [a]ffected  clinics  will  be  able  to
comply with the Act by recruiting new physicians who have 
or can obtain admitting privileges.”  250 F. Supp. 3d, at 82. 

B 
Act 620’s Impact on Abortion Access 
The District Court drew from the record evidence, includ-
ing the factual findings we have just discussed, several con-
clusions in respect  to  the  burden  that  Act  620  is likely  to 
impose upon women’s ability to access abortions in Louisi-
ana.  To better understand the significance of these conclu-
sions, the reader should keep in mind the geographic distri-
bution of the doctors and their clinics.  Figure 1 shows the
distribution of doctors and clinics at the time of the District 
Court’s decision.  Figure 2 shows the projected distribution 
if  the  admitting-privileges  requirement  were  enforced,  as