U.S. judge blocks Texas regulations for
fetal tissue remains
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[January 28, 2017]
By Jon Herskovitz
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A federal judge
in Texas on Friday halted state regulations that would require abortion
providers to dispose of aborted fetal tissue through burial or
cremation, saying the rules imposed "undue burdens on a woman's right to
seek a previability abortion."
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued an injunction that will stay in
effect until the court can render "a meaningful decision on the merits"
of the case, online court documents showed.
State lawyers argued that the Texas Department of State Health Service's
(DSHS) regulation was in line with preserving human dignity but
plaintiffs, who included abortion providers, said it was an unnecessary
and vague regulation aimed at making abortions more arduous and
expensive.
"It seems unlikely DSHS'S professed purpose is a valid state interest
and not a pretext for restricting abortion access," Sparks wrote.
"By comparison, Plaintiffs face likely constitutional violations, which
could severely limit abortion access in Texas," he wrote.
The proposed Texas limitations would be more stringent than regulations
in almost every other state, which allow aborted fetal tissue to be
disposed of in the same manner as other human tissue, according to the
Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group.
The Texas regulation change was crafted shortly after the state suffered
a stinging defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court last year when the justices
struck down separate abortion restrictions backed by the state's
Republican leaders.
Providers of women's health services including abortions argue the rules
are part of a nationwide agenda to place restrictions on abortions and
make it harder for women to get the procedure.
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An exam room at the Planned Parenthood South Austin Health Center is
shown following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a
Texas law imposing strict regulations on abortion doctors and
facilities in Austin, Texas, U.S. June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Ilana
Panich-Linsman/File Photo
"This restriction, just like the many before it, all across our
nation, does not create any health benefit for women and is strictly
designed to limit access to safe, quality abortion care," Amy
Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health and a
plaintiff in the case, said in a statement.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state will
continue its fight.
He said in a statement that the ruling "reaffirms that the abortion
lobby has grown so extreme that it will reject any and every
regulation no matter how sensible."
In a separate reproductive rights case, Sparks heard arguments this
month over plans from Texas to cut Medicaid funding for Planned
Parenthood. He has placed a hold on the funding cuts to consider
what he called "the mountain of evidence" in the case.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Chris Reese and David
Gregorio)
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