Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court blocked a lower court ruling that briefly allowed abortion clinics to continue procedures.
This all comes after the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade. Texas’ “trigger law” will go onto effect 30 days after the judgment is issued.
“Last year, [Texas] passed a law that stated if the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade and abortion is no longer protected by the federal Constitution, then abortion will be completely illegal in the state of Texas,” said Caroline Mala Corbin, a constitutional law professor at the University of Miami School of Law who spoke with the Standard. “So, it is triggered by the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade.”
The New York Post reported:
The decision — in the wake of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade — came Friday, just days after a Houston judge allowed clinics to temporarily resume abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy.
State Attorney General Ken Paxton requested that the state’s highest court temporarily put the Houston judge’s order on hold.
On Saturday morning, Paxton, a Texas Republican, labeled the reversal a “pro-life victory!”
“Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water,” he said in a tweet. “Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law.
“Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies.”
“The court recognized what we already knew: this law is constitutional,” said Chelsey Youman, state director and national legislative advisor with Human Coalition Action, in a statement. “It is the most successful piece of pro-life legislation in 50 years and should be replicated everywhere in states that are serious about rescuing pre-born lives.”
Critics of the ban say it is “sending us back.”
“Extremist politicians are on a crusade to force Texans into pregnancy and childbirth against their will, no matter how devastating the consequences,” said Julia Kaye, an attorney with the A.C.L.U. Reproductive Freedom Project.
“We have been fighting this ban for six long months, but the courts have failed us,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, president, and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, said in a statement. “The situation is becoming increasingly dire, and now neighboring states—where we have been sending patients—are about to pass similar bans. Where will Texans go then?”
Nancy Northup, president, and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, also issued a statement. “The courts have allowed Texas to nullify a constitutional right,” she said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to right this wrong.”
A hearing is scheduled for July 12.
