Ian Patrick, FISM News
[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]
In what is seen as a blow to the fight for the lives of the unborn in the US, a federal judge blocked the Texas Heartbeat Law. Signed on May 19 of this year, the bill bans abortions after there is a detectable heartbeat and was backed largely by Texas Republicans.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin blocked the bill while legality consideration for it remains underway. The ban is only temporary and blocks the ability of Texas to enforce the bill while litigation continues.
In his ruling, Pitman used heavy-handed language while describing the bill and its impact in the state. Calling it “offensive,” he lambasted the law and the Republicans who he said created a “scheme” to deny abortions.
A person’s right under the Constitution to choose to obtain an abortion prior to fetal viability is well established. Fully aware that depriving its citizens of this right by direct state action would be flagrantly unconstitutional, the State contrived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme to do just that.
This ruling specifically deals with the federal lawsuit brought against the state of Texas. Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s biggest abortion providers, filed a separate lawsuit asking to block the bill but the Texas Supreme Court shut it down on Monday of this week.
The federal lawsuit was first announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sep. 9 as part of the Biden administration’s fight against the bill and Texas Republicans.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announces a federal lawsuit against the state of Texas over its new fetal heartbeat abortion bill SB8. pic.twitter.com/GXsZyyB61X
— The Recount (@therecount) September 9, 2021
In a statement after the ruling was given, Garland said it was “a victory for women in Texas and for the rule of law.”
Democrats, especially the Biden administration, have been critical of the bill and of Texas Republicans. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki even issued a statement of her own saying it was “an important step forward toward restoring the constitutional rights of women across the state of Texas.” She also clarified the actions President Biden is taking against this pro-life law.
The fight has only just begun, both in Texas and in many states across this country where women’s rights are currently under attack. That’s why the President supports codifying Roe v. Wade, why he has directed a whole-of-government response to S.B. 8, and why he will continue to stand side-by-side with women across the country to protect their constitutional rights.
Even Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said it was a “relief” and long “overdue.”
While opposition is fierce, Texas seems determined to fight for the right to life. Leaders in the Christian world also showed major support for the heartbeat bill even as lawsuits against it started to pile up. A group of pro-life clergymen said the federal government was inserting itself “into places it does not belong.”