Texas’s near-total abortion ban takes effect after Supreme Court inaction

Sept. 1 (Reuters) – Texas passed the toughest anti-abortion law in the country on Wednesday after the US Supreme Court refused to respond to a request from abortion rights groups to block the law, which would open the trial after six weeks of pregnancy forbids.

It was a victory for Conservatives who have long sought to eliminate access to abortion in the United States.

Prominent Democrats, including President Joe Biden, expressed outrage, saying Texas law violated the right of access to abortion established by the landmark Roe Supreme Court ruling against Wade in 1973.

“My government … will protect and defend this right,” said Biden.

Abortion rights activists said such a ban has not been enacted in any US state since the landmark ruling.

Texas abortion providers worked until almost the midnight deadline when the 6-3 court’s inaction allowed the law to be enforced by a conservative majority, while abortion rights groups pursue their legal challenge to constitutionality.

The judges could still act on the Texas case. But they have already agreed to hear arguments in Mississippi’s bid to overthrow Roe against Wade.

The law represents a near-complete ban on abortion procedures, as 85 to 90% of abortions occur after six weeks of pregnancy and would likely force many clinics to close, the abortion rights groups said.

According to Reuters / Ipsos polls, a majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal in the United States. About 52% said it should be legal in most or all of the cases, while only 36% said it should be illegal in most or all of the cases.

But it remains a deeply polarizing issue, as a majority of Democrats support abortion rights and a majority of Republicans oppose them.

The Republican-controlled Texas legislature also passed law this week restricting access to voters after former Republican President Donald Trump lost the election defeat he falsely blamed for widespread voter fraud.

Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to sign the law.

‘BOUNTY SYSTEM’

Anti-abortion opponents across the country are hoping the Supreme Court, which now has three Trump-appointed justices, will eventually take steps to try Roe v. To pick up calf.

At Whole Woman’s Health in Fort Worth, Texas, the clinic staff worked until midnight, caring for 25 patients in the 2 1/2 hours before the deadline. The national group said its Texas locations, including Austin and McKinney, remained open on Wednesday.

“I woke up this morning with deep sadness,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the organization’s executive director. “This law opens up a bounty system, a system of vigilante justice that can challenge anyone who supports access to abortion.”

A protester holds up an abortion flag outside the US Supreme Court while judges on Capitol Hill in Washington, the United States, on the 4th REUTERS / Tom Brenner / FILE PHOTO

Continue reading

Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood, and other women’s health care providers, doctors, and some clergy challenged the bill in federal court in Austin in July alleging it violated the constitutional right to abortion.

The law, signed on May 19, is unusual in that it prevents government officials from enforcing the ban, but gives private individuals that power by allowing them to sue anyone who performs or “helps” an abortion after six weeks.

Citizens who win such lawsuits would be entitled to at least $ 10,000.

Abortion providers say the law could result in hundreds of costly lawsuits that would be logistically difficult to defend.

In a lawsuit, Texas officials urged Supreme Court justices to reject the abortion providers’ request because they doubted it could be challenged before it was enforced against them.

Texas is one of a dozen mostly Republican-run states that have “heartbeat” bans on abortion bans the procedure once the rhythmic contraction of fetal heart tissue can be detected, often after six weeks – sometimes before a woman realizes she is pregnant . Courts have blocked such bans.

“Texas Right to Life is grateful that the Texas Heartbeat Act is now in effect. We are now the first state to ever enforce a heartbeat law. We are still waiting for the news from SCOTUS,” spokeswoman Kimberlyn Schwartz said in one Statement using an acronym for United States Supreme Court.

A court could still put the ban on hold and no court has yet ruled its constitutionality, Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas at the Austin School of Law, wrote in a tweet.

“Despite what some will say, this is not the ‘end’ of Roe,” he wrote.

‘BLUE PRINT FOR OTHER STATES’

In the case of Texas, empowering individuals helped save the law from being blocked immediately as it made it harder to sue the government directly. It’s a formula that other states that are enacting heartbeat bans could potentially follow, legal experts said.

“Texas certainly created a blueprint for other states,” said Mary Ziegler, an expert on abortion at Florida State University College of Law.

These states may view this avenue as unnecessary, she said, as the Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a major case about Mississippi’s 2018 law banning abortion after 15 weeks.

The judges will hear a verdict in their next term, which begins in October, by the end of June 2022.

The Texas challenge is designed to prevent judges, county officials, and other state agencies from enforcing the law.

A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss the case, which resulted in an immediate appeal to the 5th U.S. Appeals Court in New Orleans, Louisiana, which dropped the case.

On Sunday, the 5th District rejected a request from abortion providers to block the law pending appeal. The providers then applied to the Supreme Court for an urgent decision.

Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Gabriella Borter and Lawrence Hurley in Washington, additional reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.