Thursday a federal appeals court rejected the Biden Administration’s attempt to block Texas’ ruling restricting abortions, keeping the bill in place while the courts consider its ultimate destiny.
A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department’s motion to postpone a preliminary injunction allowing the law to remain in effect.
After the Supreme Court refused an emergency appeal filed by abortion providers, the bill, known as SB8, went into force last month. While comparable laws in other states have been overturned by federal courts, the Texas law has so far held up, thanks to its unique structure, which relies on private citizens to police it.
Anyone who wins a lawsuit against an abortion provider for breaking the statute is entitled to at least $10,000 in damages, prompting the Biden administration and pro-abortion advocates to accuse Texas legislators of laying a bounty on women seeking abortions.
The state’s largest anti-abortion group, Texas Right to Life, established a tipline to receive claims against abortion providers but has yet to file any lawsuits.
The law prevents abortions once doctors discover heart activity, and even in circumstances of rape or incest, there are no exceptions.
Before the law went into effect, Texas had about two dozen abortion clinics, and owners believe that if restrictions remain in place, some of them may be compelled to close.
The government now has the option of requesting a rehearing or going straight to the Supreme Court, as abortion providers did in August.
The Texas law’s continued dispute comes just months before the High Court is set to consider a case regarding a Mississippi state law prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks, which was successfully challenged by the state’s only abortion clinic.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch argued in briefs filed with the Supreme Court this summer that the justices should overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, as well as a 1992 ruling prohibiting states from prohibiting abortion before viability.
“Under the Constitution, may a State prohibit elective abortions before viability? Yes,” Fitch wrote. “Why? Because nothing in constitutional text, structure, history, or tradition supports a right to abortion.”
