Chelsey Youman, state director and national legislative advisor with Human Coalition Action, applauded the court’s decision and described the Texas Heartbeat Act as “the most successful piece of pro-life legislation in 50 years, and should be replicated everywhere in states that are serious about rescuing preborn lives.”
“Texas is a pioneer for what a post-Roe pro-life culture should look like,” she said in a written statement. “The state appropriated $100 million to supporting alternatives to abortion for expectant mothers, showing that Texas truly cares about both mother and child. We will not rest as we continue to work for a society where all preborn lives are protected and all women are cared for and empowered to choose life.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which helped bring the lawsuit on behalf of abortion-rights supporters, lamented the court ruling.
CRR President Nancy Northup said in a written release, “With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone. The courts have allowed Texas to nullify a constitutional right.”
The abortion rights advocates bringing suit acknowledge state officials cannot directly enforce the ban, but they argue other Texas laws enable agency executives to enforce it indirectly through actions against licensed health care professionals, Justice Jeffrey Boyd wrote in the opinion for the Texas Supreme Court.
The nine-member court disagreed, however, Boyd said.
RELATED: Pro-Life Evangelicals Who Supported Biden Are Upset
The Texas Heartbeat Act “provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law,” Boyd wrote.
“Based on these provisions, we conclude that Texas law does not grant the state-agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly.”
The case is Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson.
All levels of the federal court system have already issued rulings regarding the Texas Heartbeat Act. A federal court halted enforcement of the law in early October, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans stayed that injunction within two days.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in December the legal challenge to the law could advance against medical licensing officials for the state. The high court allowed the state ban to stay in effect when it returned the case to the Fifth Circuit Court. A three-judge panel of the appeals court voted 2-1 in January to send the case to the Texas Supreme Court for its determination of whether any state officials could enforce the ban.
In the Dobbs case, the ERLC, other pro-life organizations and the state of Mississippi have filed briefs in support of the 15-week ban that urged the high court to reverse the Roe and Casey rulings.
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
