U.S. Justice Dept. says will protect Texas abortion clinics that come
under attack
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[September 07, 2021]
By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice
Department on Monday said it would not tolerate attacks against people
seeking or providing abortions in Texas, as the agency explores ways of
challenging the state's recently enacted law https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-declines-block-texas-abortion-ban-2021-09-02
that imposed a near-total ban on abortion.
The law, known as SB8, leaves enforcement up to individual citizens,
enabling them to sue anyone who provides or "aids or abets" an abortion
after about six weeks of pregnancy.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the department
would “protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health
services” through a 1994 law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic
Entrances Act (FACE Act).
The FACE Act prohibits the use of force and physical obstruction to
interfere with a person obtaining or providing reproductive health
services. Former President Bill Clinton backed the legislation in
response to violence by anti-abortion activists in the 1980s and 90s.
"The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when
an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,"
Garland said, adding that he would "not tolerate violence against those
seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services."
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An exam room at the Planned Parenthood South Austin Health Center is
shown in Austin, Texas, U.S. June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Ilana
Panich-Linsman
Garland said the Justice Department would enforce the
FACE Act while it "urgently explores all options to challenge Texas
SB8 in order to protect the constitutional rights of women and other
persons."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
The law took effect early on Wednesday in Texas after the U.S.
Supreme Court did not act on abortion rights groups' request to
block it. That suggests Supreme Court justices are closer than ever
to overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision under which abortion
rights have been protected.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Sonya
Hepinstall)
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