Social Issues

US federal judge blocks strict Texas anti-abortion law

Washington, Oct 6 (EFE).- A federal United States judge blocked Wednesday the application of a strict Texas anti-abortion law, which practically prohibits the practice in the state.

Magistrate Robert Pitman accepted the request of Joe Biden’s government, who through the Justice Department had demanded the temporary suspension of the law promoted by republicans pending its constitutionality.

In his ruling, the judge said the law “has created an aggressive and unprecedented mechanism to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right.”

Pitman said the law “has illegally prevented women from exercising control over their lives” and that his court “will not allow this offensive deprivation to continue for another day.”

Texas law allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against anyone who assists a pregnant woman with an abortion if they believe they are violating the ban, and offers rewards of up to $ 10,000 to each plaintiff if they win the trial.

That system has so far allowed Texas authorities to evade responsibility for law enforcement, because the burden of implementation rests on those private citizens, not the conservative leaders who pushed for the veto.

It was that loophole that allowed the law to go into effect a month ago with the Supreme Court’s approval, even though it expressly contradicts the 1973 court decision that legalized abortion across the United States, known as “Roe versus Wade.”

The Texas veto – which bans abortion from six weeks gestation, when many women still don’t know they are pregnant – is the most restrictive of the 90 that have come into effect this year in territories across the country, driven by leaders conservatives in state congresses.

In the hearing before Pitman on Friday, the Biden government said that with this law, which entered into force on Sep. 1, Texas “resorted to an unprecedented scheme supported by vigilantes.”

Despite Pitman’s blockade, Texas will most likely appeal the decision and take it before the Fifth Circuit court of appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, before the case returns to the Supreme Court. EFE

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