Biden administration to urge halt to strict Texas abortion law
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[October 01, 2021]
By Jan Wolfe and Sarah N. Lynch
(Reuters) - President Joe Biden's
administration on Friday is set to urge a judge to block a near-total
ban on abortion imposed by Texas - the strictest such law in the nation
- in a key battle in the ferocious legal war over abortion access in the
United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 1 allowed the Republican-backed law to
take effect even as litigation over its legality continues in lower
courts. The U.S. Justice Department eight days later sued in federal
court to try to invalidate it.
During a hearing in the Texas capital of Austin, Justice Department
lawyers are set to ask U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman to temporarily
block the law, saying the state's Republican legislature and governor
enacted it "in an open defiance of the Constitution."
In the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, the
Supreme Court recognized a woman's constitutional right to terminate a
pregnancy. The Supreme Court in December is due to hear arguments over
the legality of a Mississippi abortion law in a case in which officials
from that state are asking the justices to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
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The Texas law bans abortions starting at six weeks of pregnancy, a point
when many women may not yet realize they are pregnant. It and the
Mississippi measure are among a series of Republican-backed laws passed
by various states restricting abortion.
About 85% to 90% of abortions are performed after six weeks. Texas makes
no exception for cases of rape and incest. It also lets ordinary
citizens enforce the ban, rewarding them at least $10,000 if they
successfully sue anyone who helped provide an abortion after fetal
cardiac activity is detected.
The four Whole Woman's Health abortion clinics across the state have
reported that patient visits have plummeted and some staff have quit
since the Texas law took effect.
In an emergency motion to the court, the Justice
Department provided sworn statements from doctors who described the
impact of the Texas law on patients.
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An American flag waves outside the U.S. Department of Justice
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In one statement, Dr. Joshua Yap said he witnessed a "surge" of
women crossing into neighboring Oklahoma for abortions.
"One of the most heart-wrenching cases I have seen recently was of a
Texas minor who had been raped by a family member," Yap said, adding
that a guardian made an eight-hour drive to Oklahoma from Galveston
because the girl was more than six weeks pregnant.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state's top law
enforcement official, argued in a court filing on Wednesday that the
Justice Department's lawsuit must be dismissed on jurisdictional
grounds. The Texas law must be challenged in state court through
lawsuits brought against abortion providers by private citizens,
Paxton said.
Democratic former President Barack Obama appointed Pitman to the
judiciary in 2014.
The hearing will include arguments from other interested parties,
including Oscar Stilley, a disbarred lawyer in home confinement for
tax evasion who in September became one of the first people to test
a key provision of the law by suing a San Antonio doctor who
provided an abortion.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Additional
reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)
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