Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement Of TX Abortion Ban

The New York Times reports:

A federal judge on Wednesday granted the Justice Department’s request to halt enforcement of the recently passed Texas law that bans nearly all abortions in the state while the legal battle over the statute makes its way through the federal courts.

In his 113-page ruling, Robert L. Pitman, a Federal District Court judge in Austin, sided with the Biden administration, which had sued to halt a law that has changed the landscape of the abortion fight and further fueled the national debate over whether abortion will remain legal across the country.

Judge Pitman used sharp language to criticize the law, known as Senate Bill 8, which was drafted to make it difficult to challenge in court by delegating enforcement to private individuals, who can sue anyone who performs abortions or “aids and abets” them.

Read the full article.

Thankfully this district court acted where SCOTUS refused. Abortion access is under attack and we need to do everything we can to protect people’s reproductive rights. Congress needs to act and pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.https://t.co/98f6Q3nLVQ

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 7, 2021

If the Texas Senate bill 8 (the abortion ban) is allowed to continue it will be the precedent and it will make it much easier for the trumpy Supreme Court to overturn roe because Gov Abbott has already functional overturned roe. And that is why blocking this ban is a big deal.

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 7, 2021