The Texas Supreme Court decided late Friday to allow a 1925 abortion ban to be enforced, overruling a temporary district court order from earlier in the week that allowed abortion clinics to continue providing services.
Texas’s trigger ban is scheduled to take effect in about 2 months, but the near century-old law, which had been off the books for decades and unenforceable since Roe v. Wade nullified it in 1973, now leaves local abortion providers open to lawsuits and financial penalties and forces providers to prematurely end procedures due to legal risks.
Whole Woman’s Health, one of the litigants in the case against the state ban, will now end abortion operations at its 4 locations and refer patients to other local resources.
“I ache for us and for the people we have dedicated our lives to serve with the fabulous abortion care we provide, many who will be denied that right in the months and possibly years to come,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, President of Whole Woman’s Health, in a statement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the decision on social media on Saturday, calling it a victory for unborn babies and pro-life advocates.
Pro-life victory! Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water. Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law. Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies. pic.twitter.com/xgQuDtEXQu
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 2, 2022
Meanwhile, the ACLU of Texas vowed to continue to challenge and block the ban with a preliminary injunction hearing in the case, scheduled in district court on July 12th.
“Extremist politicians are on a crusade to force Texans into pregnancy and childbirth against their will, no matter how devastating the consequences,” said Julia Kaye, Staff Attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “We won’t stop fighting to ensure that as many people as possible, for as long as possible, can access the essential reproductive health care they need.”