Federal judge temporarily blocks enforcement of Texas law banning most abortions
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A federal judge granted the Justice Department a temporary injunction late Wednesday, blocking the enforcement of Texas' strict abortion law.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman issued the order, which will block the state from enforcing law, known as S.B. 8, which was passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in September that the law could be enforced while legal challenges are pending.
"From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution," Pitman said in his ruling. "That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide; this Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right."
Pitman also said the Texas Legislature "contrived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme" to enact a near-total ban on abortions in the state.
The law prohibits women from obtaining an abortion if fetal cardiac activity can be detected. In most cases that is around six weeks, when many women are not yet aware that they are pregnant. Unlike other states' anti-abortion laws, Texas' ban also allows private citizens to enforce the law by filing lawsuits against violators — entitling them to at least $10,000 in damages per defendant if successful.
Lawyers for the Justice Department appeared in federal court in Texas on Friday to ask a judge to block the state's restrictive abortion law, arguing that the statute is "in open defiance of the Constitution."
Lawyers for the Texas Attorney General's Office have maintained that the law is constitutional and had asked Pitman to deny the request for a preliminary injunction.
Texas swiftly appealed Pitman's order to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could issue a stay on the ruling and allow the law to remain in effect while litigation proceeds.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the ruling "an important step forward toward restoring the constitutional rights of women across the state of Texas."
"The fight has only just begun, both in Texas and in many states across this country where women's rights are currently under attack," her statement continued. "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."
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland celebrated the ruling in a statement Wednesday night.
"Today's ruling enjoining the Texas law is a victory for women in Texas and for the rule of law," he said. "It is the foremost responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution. We will continue to protect constitutional rights against all who would seek to undermine them."
Prompted by the Texas law, thousands of people rallied nationwide last weekend in support of abortion rights. Pressure has been mounting on lawmakers for action on the issue as more GOP-led states consider bills to restrict abortion and are being challenged in the courts.
The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, criticized the decision in a statement, arguing that "an unelected judge has interfered with the clearly expressed will of Texans."
"The people of Texas speaking through their state legislators acted to protect unborn children with beating hearts, who are as human as you and me," said the group's president Marjorie Dannenfelser. "It is time to restore this right to the people and update our laws."
Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, praised the ruling in a statement.
"For more than a month now, Texans have been deprived of abortion access because of an unconstitutional law that never should have gone into effect," Johnson said. "While this fight is far from over, we are hopeful that the court's order blocking S.B. 8 will allow Texas abortion providers to resume services as soon as possible."
The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, in December will also consider a challenge to a Mississippi abortion law that is expected to be another challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortions.
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Finally, some common sense! Let's hope this stupid (and unconstitutional) law is struck down swiftly so women do not have to worry about their rights being infringed.
It isn't over 'till it's over. Texas will bust its ass trying to shove women back into the kitchen pregnant and barefoot.
I have no doubt about that.
Never met a Texas woman, I see.
Texas - Where men are men and women are too
I think it's pretty obvious that my comment was aimed at where the present Texas government wants to put Texas women. When I attended a conference in Dallas in the early 1990s Anne Richards was the keynote speaker. I think I could have moved to Texas to work on her next campaign I was so impressed with her. So if she was an example of a Texas woman.....
What you don't understand is that Texas women are almost always in charge, and that if the Texas government is doing something, it's because Texas women want it done.
She is a good example. So is Kay Bailey Hutchison. So was Annette Strauss.
But the real power has always been behind the scenes.
If that were true and Texas women didn't want abortions after 6 week, there would be NO abortions after 6 weeks. No need for a fucking law.
Most liberals...where the men are feminine and the women are far more masculine than the "men".
It was inevitable, but the Texas law served an unintended purpose. When the Court hears the Mississipi law (15 months), it will most likely see it as a compromise.
A compromise for what? Unduly limiting individual rights? That's not something which should be compromised. Especially since established legal precedent makes the law blatantly unconstitutional. That alone means there should be no compromise.
I am thrilled beyond belief that the texas GOP has hung their maga hats on the anti choice abortion issue, especially while beating the my body my choice anti-vax drums. good luck carving off votes from the three largest voting segments, women, millennials, and non-whites. thanks for all the free midterm ad spots.
Funny how the mind sees what it assumes to be true.
15 week fetuses are still not viable. Hell, 22 weeks isn't viable
The 24 week limit was chosen because there is a good chance (not a guarantee) of the cardiovascular transition
complete with sufficiently developed lungs to insure the newborn's non dependence on machinery to breathe.
Anytime sooner and the lungs just are not capable yet of supporting the newborn or handling air.
You are speaking as a biologist?
I'm just giving you an opinion. The SCOTUS really doesn't want to keep hearing such cases. The pro-abortion crowd made a big deal out of the Texas law. I'm guessing (not predicting) that the Court allows the Mississippi law as a compromise. One thing kind of set up the other.
The SCOTUS must not rule on emotions. The Mississippi law would be a good compromise.
Do you know who gets the credit? All those who lost their minds over the Texas law.
Well done!
Just saying that 15 months isn't an option. ( your typo )
Roe's 24 weeks was a scientific base line that has stood for 48 years.
Mississippi's 15 weeks is an emotional compromise and there really isn't a need or a basis to compromise.
Texas's 6 weeks was a bad joke based on religious beliefs.
If 52% of our citizens can't make their own medical decisions
then they are just second class citizens or worse.
I agree.
No, it isn't! There is no rational justification for either laws!
Their reaction is understandable, considering the draconian measures of the Texas law.
That's an emotional argument, or you could call it a moral one. Maybe, instead, you win this the right way, as you said:
Roe's 24 weeks was a scientific base line that has stood for 48 years.
I don't know it it was scientific, but at least it involves precedent. If the Court ruled along those lines I'd be fine with it.
The precedent was partly based on scientific reviews.
If the court follows established legal precedent, then I expect (and hope) they would continue to do so. That's also why both the Texas & Mississippi laws are unconstitutional at their core.
"The people of Texas speaking through their state legislators acted to protect unborn children with beating hearts, who are as human as you and me," said the group's president Marjorie Dannenfelser. "It is time to restore this right to the people and update our laws."
If Susan B. Anthony was alive today, she would kick Marjorie Dannenfelser's ass.
I challenge Marjorie to cite the time when that protection was codified and when it was repealed.
This just shows the amount of ignorance behind this Texas law. At 6 weeks, there is NO HEART, THEREFORE NO HEART BEAT...
at six weeks of pregnancy, an ultrasound can detect "a little flutter in the area that will become the future heart of the baby," said Dr. Saima Aftab, medical director of the Fetal Care Center at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. This flutter happens because the group of cells that will become the future "pacemaker" of the heart gain the capacity to fire electrical signals, she said.
The embryo at that point is an unrecognizable blob the size of a pea.
... so basically about the same size as most texas GOPer's brains.
Well, technically all adult brains are about the same size, it's the percent of the brain used that differentiates
people.
Thanks for that info! I didn't know that even tho I've had 2 kids
please stop throwing softballs at me...
let 'er rip! I need some good old fashioned fun
I couldn't understand how anything that small, could actually have a heart beat. So I looked it up and discovered, it doesn't....
I don't see how it could, either. I didn't get a fetal hear rate test until I was about 12 weeks along
No such thing.
So it's still a fetus at 9 months moments before delivery?
You're implying that women have abortions then which is complete and total nonsense.
I have him on ignore. Is he spouting that bullshit about women aborting at 9 months again?
That is so laughable! I certainly never thought about an abortion when I was carrying an xtra 60 pounds and the boy wouldn't stop hiccupping. I just wanted him out!
You know and I know that women that have made it through nine months want to cross the finish line.
Ah the stupid 9 month abortions again. Stupid argument. Thanks for the reprint.
Absolutely! Especially when I went before the Wing NCO of the year board. The girl was only 9 days away, but I went there, gingerly lowered myself into the chair, tried not to look too awkward getting back up, and trying not to fall on my face when I did my about face and exited the room.
I wanted to go into labor right there
No, at 9 months mine were babies and I already had names for them
Technically yes.
Once past the federal abortion limit of 24 weeks people rarely refer to the fetus as such.
At that point they are showing, trying to determine the sex and picking names.
I was 34 weeks when my impatient daughter decided it was time. I was very healthy throughout most of that pregnancy - ate and drank lots of good stuff (proteins - gallons of milk - I hate drinking milk). She came out at 6lbs 10oz. I developed pre-eclampsia in the 2 weeks since my last OB visit and her birth.
Now my son - he wanted to cook extra time. 10 days late & 2 and one half pounds gained. He came out at 10lbs 5 oz. Pregnancy and delivery was fairly easy for me.
I did suffer one spontaneous abortion in between my daughter & son. I waited the required time & attempted to get pregnant again & BOOM my son less than a year later. I guess I am weird that I did not sit & wring my hands over the spontaneous abortion. I was of the mind that it happened let's get on with it.
At no time in my planned pregnancies did I consider terminating the pregnancy. And when I was humongously loaded down with my son I definitely wanted to finish.
Tess was just reprinting what my ignored person said to me.
Yes.
Ahh. Navigating one's way through another 'awkward' set of incidental clashings: Priceless!
pssttt I won that award...I think I got the pitty vote
Now that is a big 'baby'! Is he tall and thick-boned now? I was a 9 Lbs 5 oz 'thumper' and I am 5'll and continue being 'fine' as. . .heaven! (Chuckles.)
Seriously, I hope he is/has done you well. Also, no disrespect to your daughter. Hi, daughter!
The boy (hehe - I still call him that even though he is 29) is 6' and lean. He loves his mom A LOT. I have no complaints (major ones anyways) on either of my children.
No worries on disrespect... I have always found you to be courteous and warm.
I still call the Baby...The Boy. He is 26 and while not tall like his grampap he's got his grampap's shoulders
Hey now! Nobody's telling. (Smile.) At least it is clear they did not hold pregnancy against you!
My daughter is still Daddy's Princess. And she is 33.
CB is one of the nicest people here. And smart!
Mine is her daddy's princess. They are very close. She'll be 29 ? in Januarty
LOL! It still shocks me to this day. The best thing was I got a ride on a T-38...after I had the baby of course
Aww. (I'm blushing. Can you tell?)
Let me get a closer look.
Amazing isn't it?
Oh wow! What a memory to have and treasure. I sure hope the pilot went supersonic for you. . . oh wow. I once got to see a fighter jet go supersonic and its aftermath: "BOOM!" In real time. Came out of 'nowhere' shot through and was on the other horizon before you could stop staring.
Psst. I emailed "payroll" to get with you by today's end for a delivery. (Keep it to yourself now.)
HA!
I was lucky because Mr G was the NCOIC of admin in his squadron who flew the T-38s. He got his favorite pilot to take me on my joy ride. Capt Q was the consummate professsional. He did a barrel roll and when I asked "please don't do that again" He then did the wing tipping from side to side.
Yes...I puked. But it was a lot of fun and somethinI will never forget
I led a charmed life in the Air Force
Greg, it's not even a fetus at 6 weeks. Get educated.
That is correct. It becomes a fetus at 8 weeks gestation until birth.
oh please...you're asking the impossible
here comes ticket number 4...maybe 5 or 6
T-38 is a trainer not capable of those speeds
where they take pilot candidates and let them play to see who gets air sick and who loves it.
My daughter loved it but they don't let the candidate take off or land.
One family day on the Lincoln in the Pacific they had an F14 break the sound barrier as it passed the carrier
on the port side. Nice effects as it punched through the humidity but one of the engines blew off the nacelles
and we got to watch the trail of smoke as the Search & Rescue helos
pealed off and followed him/her back to Alameda NAS.
Very fine memories none the less.
Yes but only medically, scientifically and legally speaking, possibly not emotionally though
Very fine memory/ies indeed. Thank you for the information on T-38!
You know of what you speak, it was an F-14 of which I speak. Then, there was the time a man over board (not a drill) caused the 'Search and Rescue helo' to go down in the ocean during a storm at sea! Memories!
Some of the finest men you would ever meet in life, I say.
Sad. Was the President at the time excoriated in the press for allowing ships at sea in foul
weather?
Another good day. Ever see those giant golf balls on a Naval Air Station or AFB?
Most likely a high end flight simulator. Ours was for F-18s and it was to be completely overhauled.
replacing hundreds of refrigerator sized computer processors with a dozen state of the art computers.
Inside the dome is about 2/3rds of an F18 D. We got to take our kids with the boy scouts before it was decertified
and updated.
Father and son teams flying sorties against imaginary enemies. To the control rooms chagrin.
Everyone shot down friendly air liners because they were easy.
They also learned why the system was being replaced. You could fly under house and trees
and through mountains to surprise your target.
During regular training the control room would stop that, but we all had a good time driving the MC a bit crazy
realistic engine noises and working ailerons noise were pumped into the cockpit as well as the movement
and noise from launching sidewinder missiles made it neat but the houses and trees were cartoonish.
The next generation was 100x more realistic.
Good day with my son.
No. In fact, I never saw any news about the event. Certainly I was not in any 'position' to see news stories in real time. We were where we belonged at the time.
I was being facetious, training accidents, and man overboard rarely make the news.
TYFYS
Oh I forgot to mention: we got everybody back. As you might know, sometimes when you pull into port-of-calls, over the ship's system we would be warned that the media is on the pier and to . . . .
It is the kind of imagery that stays with you for life: A stormy day; a man in the ocean, a rescue helicopter flying a search pattern, a 'copter drop into the waters and waves, that guttural feeling that you are having a 'moment' and then scramblings by crews, and the "all clear" sounds. Though the storm yet rages all around. Memories.
I've been there many times. My father was a Navy pilot stationed at Alameda for 3 years.
We lived in Castro Valley and my brother attended CVHS (where Rachel Maddow later graduated).
I saw lots of F-4 Phantoms go supersonic when I was in VF-102 on the USS Independence.
I got the opportunity to "fly" an old fashioned simulator at the NAS Dallas NARTU.
And it was always fun watching the Dilburt Dunker hit the swimming pool there.
Watch this newbie "wash out" (X4) to the appropriate music:
If this law were to stand wealthy white women would just go out of state for their abortions. Poor women would have their babies, go on welfare, be supported for life by Texan taxpayers, pass the legacy of expertise at gaming the system on to their children, have more babies because they need a raise, and vote Democratic.
but, but, but, jesus!
At least some sanity has prevailed, as of now, thanks to Judge Pitman.
The lone voice of insanity in an insane state.
Interesting and conflicting comment.
I like it!
LOL!
An error on my part. Its supposed to say "the lone voice of sanity...." And that's why I hate autocorrect. Thanks for the catch.
I know it was a mistake, and I am not trying to bust your balls on it, just thought it was funny!
I have done the same thing before.
No worries. I hate it when mistakes like that happen. But then, I do have a bad habit of not proof reading before I post.
A most excellent written judgement right down to the footnotes. Well thought out and supported for SCOTUS to presumably review.
113 pages long.
I agree.
What is happening here is conservative states are demonstrating their power to govern in the manner they see fit. It is something conservative 'shock' jocks have been clamoring for out of decades of republican presidents.
"Just do it!" The 24/7 talk shocks and conservative writers would say. Forget the 'libs' - we got your back in this fight! The ironic part is, seeing raw conservative behaviors, activities, and ruthlessness is offensive to many proper conservatives and definitely is forcing them onto the sidelines of (or out) the republican (political) party!
I am not sure what is happening on the democratic (political) party side. Though, I am observing, these parties seem to "promulgate" similar errors and foibles in a circular fashion. Sometimes, I suppose, you are left to look at the rationale for why they are acting out tic for tac.
The Women's march, Austin TX. 10/2/21
I sure would not want to go against any of them at any point. Wish Abbott would go out to tell them to go home and do their laundry and start supper and see how long he would last.
The Women's march, Austin TX. 10/2/21
I wonder if any of the politicians pushing this ban have considered that many of these children will end up the care of the state. Considering the state of the foster care system in Texas I guess they haven't.
There are plenty of additional articles on this, just goggle them.
Care of the state (of Texas)? Texas does not plan on helping these people it will promote ignoring them and watch them drift off into blue states (which will continue the cycle of red states perpetuation of situational policies and politics for the democrats to solve and deliver on results)!
Women should stop begging, pleading, and asking. Get busy! Make your brothers, sons, and husbands respect you and get the hell out of your way!
Aretha Franklin | Respect | LIVE 1968 | BEST VERSION
The appeals court reversed the judge and reinstated the Texas law today! Let’s celebrate 🎉🎊🍾🥳🎈🍻
cool, I'll put the cattle guard back on my truck for my version of thumping.