A Texas judge on Monday temporarily blocked an anti-abortion group Planned Parenthood lawsuit under the new 6-week abortion ban in Texas, which gave abortion rights advocates a narrow victory.
The temporary order does not address the legality of Texas ’controversial new measure, which prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, nor does it allow Planned Parenthood to defy the law. Rather, the order prevents Texas Right to Life from attempting to enforce the abortion ban against Planned Parenthood while a legal dispute develops between the parties.
Judge Karin Crump entered the order after the parties negotiated a settlement.
In a three-page order, Crump said abortion providers at Planned Parenthood clinics had reason to fear that they would be sued for the right to life in Texas under the new Texas law if the anti-abortion group was not forced to do it.
“The court finds that the plaintiffs will be harmed imminently and irreparably in the event that there is no interim measure,” Crump wrote.
The Texas law in question, SB 8, was signed in May by the government. Greg Abbott
Greg Abbott: Democrats gain momentum as California recovery nears goal GOP sees Biden vaccine mandates an energizing issue for tropical storm Nicholas in the medium term toward the Texas coast (R) and went into effect earlier this month. It gives enforcement authority to private citizens, which allows them to sue those who perform an abortion or help a woman who receives a violation of the measure and provides $ 10,000 for a successful lawsuit.
While Monday’s order temporarily immunizes Planned Parenthood from possible Texas Right to Life lawsuits, other groups that are not part of its dispute are free to sue Planned Parenthood for alleged violations of SB 8.
The controversial law has provoked several legal challenges, with opponents arguing that the law violates the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. This decisive 1973 decision granted a constitutional right to abortion before a fetus was viable, usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Last week the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate Texas law.
It is estimated that between 85 and 90 percent of women who have abortions in Texas spend at least six weeks pregnant, the date on which the new law is usually triggered. The measure is expected to disproportionately affect adolescents, people of color and women living in rural areas.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, rejected an emergency request from abortion providers to prevent the measure from taking effect.
The five Conservative judges who made up the majority said the procedural complexities helped guide the court’s refusal to block Texas law, but added that its ruling was not intended to resolve “serious issues” about the law’s constitutionality. of Texas.
The important 1973 decision in Roe could be in jeopardy next term, however, when the Supreme Court, with a conservative 6-3 majority, revises a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
Updated at 3:14 p.m.