U.S. Supreme Court strikes down strict Louisiana abortion law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dealt a blow to anti-abortion advocates.

In a 5-4 decision, with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joining the four liberals in the majority, the Court struck down a Louisiana law placing restrictions on doctors who perform the procedure.

The measure had required doctors who perform abortions to have a sometimes difficult-to-obtain formal affiliation called "admitting privileges" at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.

It's the first abortion to come out of the Supreme Court since Trump installed conservative justices Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom ruled in favor of the Louisiana restrictions and it marked the second time in four years that the court ruled against an "admitting privileges" requirement.

While abortion rights advocates are cheering Monday's ruling, several other cases involving legal challenges to abortion restrictions in other states are heading to the Court. Those cases could provide other avenues for its conservative majority to roll back access to the procedure.