Court allows Texas to reinstate abortion law

A federal appeals court on Friday authorized Texas temporarily reinstating a law that bans most abortions, just a day after state clinics began serving patients again for the first time since early September.

Abortion providers in Texas had been preparing for the Federal Court of Appeals of the 5th. Circuito acted quickly, even as they accepted new patient appointments and reopened their doors during a brief suspension of the law known as SB8, which prohibits termination of pregnancy once cardiac activity is detected in the embryo, which usually occurs at six weeks gestation.

District Judge Robert Pitman, who was appointed to the job by President Barack Obama, issued an order on Wednesday suspending Texas law, which he described as an “offensive deprivation” of the constitutional right to abortion. He gave his ruling in response to a lawsuit brought by the administration of President Joe Biden.

But the New Orleans court of appeals quickly granted Texas’ request to vacate Pitman’s order until the case is reviewed. He ordered the Justice Department to respond by Tuesday.

Texas had roughly two dozen abortion clinics before the law went into effect Sept. 1, and not everyone who provides this service in the state resumed it while it was suspended. Many doctors feared the appeals court would quickly overturn the suspension, putting them at legal risk again.

The new law threatens abortion providers in Texas with lawsuits filed by individuals, who would be entitled to receive up to $ 10,000 in compensation if they win the lawsuit. That novel approach is why the courts had not blocked the law prior to Pitman’s ruling, as the state plays no role in enforcing the restrictions.

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