LITTLE ROCK � The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law that imposed tough restrictions on abortion clinics, a ruling that both supporters and opponents of abortion rights said could make it more difficult to defend restrictions approved last year in Arkansas.

LITTLE ROCK � The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law that imposed tough restrictions on abortion clinics, a ruling that both supporters and opponents of abortion rights said could make it more difficult to defend restrictions approved last year in Arkansas.

But abortion opponents said the fight is far from over and said they expect to see Arkansas lawmakers impose new restrictions on the practice next year.

In a 5-3 decision, the currently eight-member high court said Texas' 2013 law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and that all abortion clinics meet the operating standards of surgical centers imposed an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.

Last year, the state Legislature and Gov. Asa Hutchinson enacted a law to require an abortion clinic that administers the abortion drug mifepristone to have a contract with a doctor who has hospital-admitting privileges and require the provider to administer the drug according to the instructions and dosage level approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Dr. Stephanie Ho filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law. They later dropped the portion of the suit alleging the FDA protocols were out of date after the FDA updated its protocols, but the challenge to the admitting-privileges requirement is still pending.

In March, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law until the suit is resolved. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is pursuing an appeal of that order to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Rutledge was among attorneys general from 24 states who submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to uphold the Texas law. In a statement Monday, she expressed concern about the impact of the decision in that case.

"Arkansas, like Texas, has a profound interest in protecting the health of all women, but today's unfortunate ruling puts that at risk," she said. "The court has issued a decision that makes it even more challenging for a state to provide commonsense health and safety regulations for abortion procedures."

Rita Sklar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which is helping to represent the plaintiffs in the Arkansas case, said in a statement Monday the ruling means Arkansas' admitting-privileges requirement is more likely to be ruled unconstitutional.

"We must tell Arkansas lawmakers that, in today's ruling, the court recognized these abortion restrictions for what they are: sham laws that do nothing to protect a woman's health but do prevent her from getting the care she needs. The sham stops today," Sklar said.

Jerry Cox, president of the Christian conservative Family Council, said he did not expect the ruling to deter Arkansas legislators from enacting further abortion restrictions during next year's session.

"For example, we need to be certain the Health Department is doing the best job possible inspecting abortion facilities, and we need to be certain that the results of those inspections are made public to ensure clinics operate as responsibly as possible," Cox said in a statement.

"We also need to be certain abortion providers adequately inform women regarding abortion's risks and alternatives. And the state of Arkansas needs to do all it can do to help women with unplanned pregnancies so that their children can be adopted or cared for rather than aborted," he said.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, said in a statement, "The Supreme Court may have ruled in favor of abortion providers today, but that will not stop states like Arkansas, Texas, and others from passing laws that are supported by its people. We will never stop fighting for the innocent and one day we will overcome this great injustice in America."

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, "I deeply believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and that it should be � and will be � overturned someday. But before that time, we all should have been able to agree that duly elected representatives of the people can pass laws to protect women from unsafe abortion providers. That's now impossible after this decision, and it will be to the detriment of the well-being of women across the nation."