precedent

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law that could have left the state with a single abortion clinic. It was a setback for conservatives in the first major ruling on abortion since two Trump appointees joined the bench. We examine the implications for future challenges, and why — for the third time in two weeks — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sided with his four more liberal colleagues.

Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Chief Justice Roberts also voted with the court’s liberal wing in rulings on job discrimination against L.G.B.T.Q. workers and on a program protecting young immigrants.
• The ruling on Monday stalled anti-abortion momentum for now, but the movement has a long pipeline of new cases.
• Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote that the Louisiana law was “almost word-for-word identical” to a law from Texas, which the court struck down in 2016.

A case before the Supreme Court is the first big test of abortion rights since President Trump created a conservative majority among the justices. We traveled to the Louisiana health clinic at the center of the case to ask what was at stake in the decision. Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, spoke with Kathaleen Pittman, director of Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, La. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The justices are considering whether Louisiana can require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. While the law is specific, their decision may be a test for the future of abortion rights in America more broadly.
• Ms. Pittman remembers when there were 11 abortion clinics in Louisiana. Now there are only three, hers among them. After the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling, there may be only one.