JOE SCARBOROUGH (CO-HOST): So front page of The New York Times talks about a devastating loss for pro-life forces. “Justices overturn Texas abortion limits.” There has been the belief for some time in conservative circles that this court was going to continue moving towards outlawing abortion bit by bit, piece by piece. That certainly belief was blown out of the water yesterday in this decision was it not?
SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): Yeah, I believe it was, particularly given the fact that this outcome came about and this outcome would have come about, and notwithstanding the death of Justice Scalia. In other words, even if Justice Scalia had still been around, it appears that this outcome would have been exactly the same. And this is the first time since 2000 in a case called Stenberg v. Carhart that the court has taken this type of action. So we're talking about roughly 16 years since this type of action has occurred. And certainly it is being perceived, correctly, I think, as a significant setback for the pro-life movement. Look, these were restrictions, these were health and safety restrictions imposed by the state of Texas. Simply dealing with proximity to an admitting hospital, simply dealing with the health and safety standards that are applicable to an outpatient surgery facility.
SCARBOROUGH: Right.
LEE: And so a lot of pro-life activists and a lot of people who were just interested in maintaining the public health and safety of the people of Texas who were confident in this case. And yet the Supreme Court saw fit to intervene. I don't think it was warranted but it is the outcome that we are faced with.
SCARBOROUGH: Obviously the court and [Justice] Kennedy could have found a rational reason why the state would decide to put some of these regulations on abortion clinics if they had chosen to. It wasn't a reach at all. They had an excuse. They decided not to take it, and I think it's really significant.
