Washington:
A Texas law that bans abortion immediately after six weeks, and tends to make no exception for rape or incest, took impact on Wednesday immediately after the Supreme Court did not act on an emergency request to block it.
Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed the bill in May, generating Texas one of a dozen states banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected — which is generally in the sixth week of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court may perhaps nonetheless grant the request from rights groups and abortion providers to halt the so-named “heartbeat bill”, which tends to make Texas one of the hardest states in the United States to get an abortion.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and other groups filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court on Monday asking it to cease the law from taking impact.
“Approximately 85 to 90 percent of people who obtain an abortion in Texas are at least six weeks into pregnancy, meaning this law would prohibit nearly all abortions in the state,” ACLU mentioned.
The other states that have sought to enact restrictions on abortion in the early stages of pregnancy have been barred from carrying out so by the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade.
That choice permitted abortion so extended as the fetus is not viable, which is generally the case till the 22nd to 24th weeks of pregnancy.
Texas’s law is distinctive since it enables the public — rather than state officials like prosecutors or well being departments — to enforce the ban.
The Texas law “creates a bounty hunting scheme that encourages the general publicto bring costly and harassing lawsuits against anyone who they believe has violated the ban,” the ACLU mentioned.
“Anyone who successfully sues a health center worker, an abortion provider, or any person who helps someone access an abortion after six weeks will be rewarded with at least $10,000, to be paid by the person sued,” it mentioned.
“Anti-abortion groups in Texas have already set up online forms enlisting people to sue anyone they believe is violating the law and encouraging people to submit ‘anonymous tips’ on doctors, clinics, and others who violate the law,” it mentioned.
Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, mentioned the Texas bill would force females to “travel out of state -in the middle of a pandemic – to receive constitutionally guaranteed healthcare.”
“Many will not be able to afford to,” Northup mentioned. “It’s cruel, unconscionable, and unlawful.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, mentioned the Supreme Court is getting asked “to uphold 50 years of precedent and ensure Texans won’t be denied their constitutional right to abortion.”
The Supreme Court is due to hear a case this fall involving a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions immediately after the 15th week of pregnancy except in instances of healthcare emergency or a serious fetal abnormality.
It will be the very first abortion case regarded as by the nation’s higher court considering the fact that former president Donald Trump cemented a conservative majority on the nine-member panel.
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