The decision, which comes from a federal judge, is the first blow to the judiciary for the legislation, which has so far survived a number of attempts to overturn it.
– This court can not approve that such an important right is deprived for a single more day, it is stated in the ruling from judge Robert Pitman.
Even if the law is suspended, it is unclear if and if so how soon the abortion offer will be the same in Texas as before, because doctors are worried that they can be sued without a more permanent court decision.
It is expected that the decision will be appealed to a court that previously allowed the law to enter into force.
Last Saturday marched tens of thousands of Americans for women’s right to self-determined abortion in the United States.
Prohibits abortion in practice
The law was signed by the state’s Republican governor Greg Abbott in May, and came into force in September.
In practice, it bans abortions after week six, a time when many do not know they are pregnant. No exceptions are made if the pregnancy is due to rape or incest.
The Abortion Act also differs from other states’ attempts to tighten abortion legislation in that it leaves it to private individuals to go to civil lawsuits against anyone who either contributes and facilitates, or has performed, abortions.
In practice, this means that both the doctor who carries out the procedure and the taxi driver who drives the patient to the clinic can be sued.
The abortion providers say that the law has turned out as they feared.
Planned Parenthood says the number of patients at the company’s clinics in Texas decreased by almost 80 percent in the first two weeks after the law came into force.
The Biden administration is trying to overthrow the law
The Biden administration is leading the legal attempt to have the law scrapped.
The main argument is that the law is an attack on a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion.
– A state can not ban abortions after six weeks. Texas knew this, but wanted a ban after six weeks anyway, so the state referred to an unheard of scheme designed to intimidate abortion providers and others who might help women exercise their constitutional right, Justice Department lawyer Brian Netter told court Friday.
Texas gets America’s strictest abortion law
Supreme Court
The law can be taken all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court decision in the case Roe vs. Wade from 1973 forms the basis for the right to abortion in the United States. The Supreme Court is more conservative than in a long time, and women’s advocates fear the court will in practice ban abortion in the United States.
The Supreme Court begins a new term on Monday, and in December it will consider an attempt by the state of Mississippi to overthrow Roe vs. Wade. If that happens, a large number of states will be ready with laws that will ban abortion.
In September, the court failed to assess whether Texas’ law is unconstitutional or not, and left it standing. Abortion advocates took the decision, five judges against four, as a bad sign.
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