Texas: Clinics Resume Abortions After Law Suspension

Some clinics Texas abortions resumed on Thursday after a federal judge ordered the most restrictive law against the termination of pregnancy in the United States to be suspended, but state doctors were not rushing to resume normal operations because the court battle is underway. far from finished.

The order that District Judge Robert Pitman issued Wednesday night was intended to give Texas clinics coverage to return to seeing most patients for the first time since early September, when the law known as SB8 went into effect. , prohibiting the practice of abortions once cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, which usually happens at six weeks of gestation, before some women even know they are pregnant.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health, said her four clinics across the state called some patients on a list Thursday morning in case the law was blocked at some point. Some appointments were also scheduled for the next few days and the phone lines were busy again, he said.

But the relief that Texas abortion providers felt was tempered by the prospect of an appeals court reinstating the law in the coming days. Meanwhile, some state doctors continued to refuse to perform abortions for fear that they could be held responsible despite the judge’s order.

“There is hope for patients and staff, and I think there is some desperation in that hope,” said Hagstrom Miller. “People know that this opportunity could be short-lived.”

The law leaves its enforcement in the hands of citizens, who can claim $ 10,000 in damages if their lawsuit against abortion providers who violate the restrictions is successful. Planned Parenthood, which had said it hoped the order would allow clinics to resume abortion services as soon as possible, did not offer an update on its plans Thursday.

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was quick to announce the state’s intention to file an appeal, which it had not yet done Thursday afternoon.

“The sanctity of human life is, and always will be, my top priority,” Paxton tweeted.

Pitman’s order is the first legal setback to Texas law, which had weathered a wave of challenges. In the weeks after the restrictions were implemented, Texas abortion providers said the impact had been “exactly what we feared.”

In a 113-page opinion, Pitman rebuked Texas for the law, saying that Republican lawmakers had “devised an unprecedented and transparent statutory ruse,” leaving its enforcement solely in the hands of private citizens, who can obtain redress if their cases they are successful.

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