The Texas Supreme Court denied Planned Parenthood’s request Monday to proceed with its lawsuit challenging the Lone Star State’s pro-life heartbeat law.
The Texas Tribune reports America’s biggest abortion provider asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional. The law bans abortion once the baby’s heartbeat is detected, as early as six-to-seven weeks into a pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, filed in a Travis County district court, has been indefinitely paused by the Texas Multidistrict Litigation Panel, along with 13 other lawsuits. The five Republican judges on the panel stopped the legal challenges from proceeding after objections by Texas Right to Life, the newspaper reported.
In reporting on the abortion giant’s attempt to overturn the Heartbeat Act, The Texas Tribune disclosed that Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of the paper.
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The Texas Heartbeat Act has been in effect for more than a month even though abortion advocates, including the Biden administration, have filed lawsuits to stop its enforcement.
Experts estimate more than 85% of abortions in the Lone Star State have ceased, according to the Texas Tribune.
Legal pundits say the law was written in a very unique way that makes it difficult to block it in court. Even though abortion is legal in the U.S. under Supreme Court precedent, the most original element of the Texas law is that private citizens, not the state or law enforcement officials, are responsible for its enforcement. Texas citizens can sue anyone who helps someone facilitate an illegal abortion. They can also be compensated up to $10,000.
In September, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal from abortion advocates to stop the law. The high court did not rule on the law’s constitutionality, it only decided not to block it on a fast-track basis, sending the case back to the state court level instead.
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