The Texas Supreme Court in recent hours blocked a lower court order allowing clinics to continue providing abortions, shortly after some professionals resumed caring for patients following the overturning a week ago of the Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed the constitutional right to Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) in the United States.
The ruling was made known on Friday night and it is not yet clear if the clinics that had resumed patient care will suspend serviceswhich will presumably be revealed after a hearing scheduled for later this month.
What the Court did was block a lower court ruling that had prevented the ban from going into effect, a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) on behalf of clinics that perform abortions.
“The Texas Supreme Court blocked our injunction, allowing a total abortion ban originally passed in 1925 to be enforced,” the ACLU tweeted.
BREAKING: The Texas Supreme Court blocked our injunction, allowing a total abortion ban originally passed in 1925 to be enforced.
This law has already forced countless people to carry pregnancies against their will.
Abortion is our right — no matter what the courts say.
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 2, 2022
The law that entered into force grants up to five years in prison for doctors who help terminate a pregnancyprohibits abortion even in the case of rape and only makes an exception if the life of the mother is at risk.
After the annulment of Roe vs. Wade, which left the decision of whether or not to allow the IVE in the hands of each state, Texas stopped performing abortions until a judge in Houston, Texas, ordered earlier this week to temporarily resume care in people up to six weeks pregnant.
But almost immediately Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state’s highest court, whose nine justices are Republicans, to temporarily suspend the order.
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision was not posted on the court’s website, although some details became known because attorneys for the Texas clinics released a copy of the ruling.
Throughout the country, clinics and patients were struggling to in some cases recover the right and in others maintain the ban.
In Florida, a law that allows IVE until the 15th week of gestation took effect this Fridaybut a judge has already anticipated that next week he will issue an order to temporarily block it, after stating that it violates the state constitution.
Throughout the country, clinics and patients were struggling to in some cases recover the right and in others maintain the ban.
In Kentucky, a ban went into effect on the same Friday that the US Supreme Court issued its ruling, but a judge blocked it the day before yesterday, allowing the only two clinics that practice IVE in the state to resume patient care.
However, nothing is said.
It is quite certain that legal disputes will continue to allow access to be canceled at any time, overwhelming the clinics and especially the people who need to be treated.
It is still possible for someone who wants to have an IVE to travel to a state that allows it, which leaves out many people who may not be able to move, do not know how to do it and, above all, are not protected by law, and may be prosecuted. .
This week, Planned Parenthood of Montana stopped providing the abortion pill to patients living in states with bans “to minimize potential risk to providers, health center staff and patients in a rapidly changing landscape.” .
