Pitman, who was appointed by President Obama, writes that his injunction might prevent other states from enacting “copycat legislation” that attempts to evade judicial review. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the “unconstitutional law” in Texas “never should have gone into effect.”
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, says an appeal is already underway. “The sanctity of human life is and will always be a top priority for me,” he says. Will Thompson, counsel for Paxton’s office, refutes the claim that the Texas ban is “some kind of vigilante scheme.” Instead, he says, it “uses the normal, lawful process of justice” in the state.
Kimberlyn Schwartz, a spokesperson for Texas Right to Life, says Judge Pitman’s order is “ultimately the legacy of Roe v. Wade, that you have activist judges bending over backwards, bending precedent, bending the law, in order to cater to the abortion industry.” She adds, “These activist judges will create their conclusion first—that abortion is a so-called constitutional right—and then work backwards from there.”
John Seago, also of Texas Right to Life, calls Pitman’s move “astonishing and an incredible overreach from a federal judge onto state courts.”
Will Abortion Procedures Resume in Texas?
It’s unclear whether Pitman’s order means that abortions beyond six weeks’ gestation will pick up again in Texas. With an appeal underway and the issue still unsettled, providers may hesitate for fear of being sued.
Clinics represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights plan to resume operations soon, according to president and CEO Nancy Northup, “even though the threat of being sued retroactively will not be completely gone until SB 8 is struck down for good.” She adds, “The cruelty of this law is endless.”
Planned Parenthood reported an 80 percent decrease in the number of patients at its Texas clinics in the first two weeks of September. Some nearby states with less restrictive abortion laws have indicated that more women are coming there for the procedure. Abortion advocates say other women, who can’t afford to travel out of state, must now continue their pregnancies against their wishes.
During the Supreme Court’s new term, which began on Monday, justices will hear arguments about Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks. Legal experts say the case could lead the newly conservative high court to consider overturning the landmark 1973 Roe decision that legalized most abortions nationwide.