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 The U.S. Supreme Court last week
https://www.reuters.com/
business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/
texas-six-week-abortion-ban-takes-effect-2021-09-01 let stand the
Texas law banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy,
before many women realize they are pregnant.
Although that decision did not address the constitutionality of the
Texas law, it represented a major victory for social conservatives
who have been trying to ban abortion since the court's 1973 Roe v.
Wade decision established the constitutional right to the procedure.
Attorney General Merrick Garland called the Texas law "clearly
unconstitutional."
"This kind of scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United
States is one that all Americans, whatever their politics or party,
should fear," Garland said. "If it prevails, it may become a model
for action in other areas by other states."
The Texas law relies on private citizens to enforce it by filing
civil lawsuits against people who help a woman obtain an abortion
after six weeks, whether that be a doctor who performs the procedure
or a cabbie who drives a woman to a clinic.
The law allows people who sue to receive at least $10,000 and makes
no exceptions for rape or incest, although there are narrowly
defined exemptions for the mother's health. Republican Texas
Governor Greg Abbott defended the law this week, saying that the
state would "eliminate all rapists."
"Texas passed a law that ensures that the life of every child with a
heartbeat will be spared from the ravages of abortion," Abbott
spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a statement. "We are confident that
the courts will uphold and protect that right to life."
The online court docket initially said the case was assigned to U.S.
District Judge Lee Yeakel in the Western District of Texas. But the
docket was changed to U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman. Pitman,
appointed by former President Barack Obama, was in August due to
consider blocking the Texas law from taking effect but an appeals
court halted the proceeding.
[to top of second column] |
 FOCUS ON MISSISSIPPI CASE
The Supreme Court's decision not to block the
Texas law last week left abortion-rights
activists worried that the court, on which
conservatives hold a 6-3 majority, may be open
to overturning Roe when it hears a case
involving a Mississippi abortion ban later this
year. Abortion opponents
predicted that the Biden administration challenge to the Texas law
would ultimately fail. "Joe Biden has a long record of failures with
protecting the unborn and pregnant women," said Texas Right to Life
Vice President Elizabeth Graham. "His DOJ will quickly find that
they do not have jurisdiction to stop the Texas Heartbeat Act."
Because it takes several weeks before pregnancy can be detected on a
standard urine test, Texas women could have just a week or two to
seek an abortion before being prohibited from doing so under the
law. Some 85% to 90% of abortions occur after six weeks of
pregnancy, and leaving the ban in place could cause clinics to
close, abortion-rights groups warned.
Whole Woman's Health, which has four Texas clinics, praised the
Biden administration move.
"It’s a monumental time for the federal government to step in and
restore all people’s rights to safe, high-quality abortion care,"
Amy Hagstrom Miller, the group's chief executive, said in a
statement.
A majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, according
to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Some 52% said it should be legal in most
or all cases, with just 36% saying it should be illegal in most or
all cases.
But it remains a deeply polarizing issue, with a majority of
Democrats supporting abortion rights and a majority of Republicans
opposing them.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Jan Wolfe and
Gabriella Borter; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
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