Washington, Aug 5: A judge in the US state of Texas issued a temporary injunction Friday barring the state’s abortion ban, ruling that it is too restrictive for women with severe pregnancy complications.
Travis County District Judge Jessica Mangrum also denied the Texas government’s request to throw out the lawsuit, the first one filed by women impacted by the abortion bans in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending constitutional protections for women’s abortion rights.
However, the injunction was immediately blocked by an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, reported The Associated Press (AP).
“The trial court’s injunction is ineffective, and the status quo remains in effect,” Paige Willey, spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office, was quoted as saying in an email.
Texas laws prohibit all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies, which the state laws do not define.
It’s a second-degree felony in Texas to perform or attempt an abortion, punishable by up to life in prison and a fine of up to 10,000 U.S. dollars.
Mangrum ruled that doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges could be forced to “bar or delay the provision of abortion care to pregnant persons in Texas for whom an abortion would prevent or alleviate a risk of death or risk to their health.”
Doctors cannot be prosecuted for exercising “good faith judgment,” the judge said.
The lawsuit could be a model in other U.S. red states exerting abortion bans, local analysts say. (UNI)
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