Pastor Robert Jeffress slams Supreme Court abortion ruling as profit-driven

Chiqui Guyjoco Thursday, June 30, 2016

Pastor Robert Jeffress criticized the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Texas' abortion rules as all about profit and not women's safety.

"I think this is a sad day not only for the state of Texas, but for women," said Jeffress on Fox News just after the Supreme Court announced its ruling Monday, June 27.

Demonstrators celebrate at the Supreme Court after the court struck down a Texas law imposing strict regulations on abortion doctors and facilities. | REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The Court voted 5-3 to strike down Texas House Bill 2 that imposed specific requirements on abortion clinics as well as abortion doctors.

"Look, all this bill did was ask that abortion providers have at least the same standards as surgical centers," said the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas.

Jeffress added that he stood for the passage of the HB 2 bill three years ago with the present governor Greg Abbott. The pastor slammed the pro-choice group Planned Parenthood's opposition to the bill as hypocritical and charged that the group didn't really stand for women's health as they claimed but was merely profit-driven.

"They could have brought these surgical centers up to the standards that they needed to be, but they didn't spend the money to do so," said Jeffress. "It is a very sad ruling."

On the other hand, what's very sad for Jeffress was celebrated as a "thrilling victory for women" by the group he condemned.

Planned Parenthood considered HB 2 as an unconstitutional and dangerous law and that it was poised to close down majority of the abortion clinics in Texas. Had the Court voted otherwise, the group claimed that the state would be left with only nine abortion centers out of some 40 health centers that are currently in operation. The pro-choice group also promised that it would repay the Court's landmark ruling by doubling down on its efforts to protect women's reproductive rights state by state.

The group cited liberal Associate Justice Stephen Breyer who wrote for the court as saying that the law only "poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so."