This Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas abortion providers again in the on-going legal battle over the state’s controversial six-week ban, S.B. 8. This week’s decision was made regarding the issue of sending the case back to the original trial judge, an attempt by abortion advocates to move their challenge to the law […]
Supreme Court Delivers Another Blow Against Abortion Rights
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a clearly unconstitutional abortion ban in Texas, leaving in place S.B. 8, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The Court’s ruling substantially narrows options to challenge the law in federal court, and there is no fast option for a Texas Supreme Court ruling […]
The Supreme Court Must Not Reward Anti-Abortion Violence
by Christian F. Nunes and Eleanor Smeal Political violence as a tool for achieving political goals is on the rise, particularly when it comes to abortion. We’ve seen this before with S.B. 8 in Texas, a law that codifies vigilante anti-abortion extremism, and we’re seeing it again with the Mississippi abortion ban case, Dobbs v. Jackson […]
Texas’s Six-Week Ban Has Been In Effect for Over Two Months. Is There an End in Sight?
by Roxy Szal for Ms. magazine With a lack of Supreme Court action to block the most restrictive abortion ban in history, Texas abortion advocates are looking to a district court for relief. On Wednesday, a state district judge heard arguments from abortion providers and advocates to block enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 8, the most […]
Supreme Court Hears Challenges to Texas Abortion Ban
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard two procedural challenges to SB8, Texas’s six-week abortion ban that was enacted on September 1. The Court heard both United States v. Texas and Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, both challenging the law. US Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar argued that the law is unconstitutional and that if upheld, […]
Supreme Court Will Hear Texas Abortion Ban Case November 1
On Friday, the Supreme Court said that they will not block Texas’ SB8, a near-total abortion ban, but will review the law on November 1st. The justices said that they will rule on whether the Justice Department and abortion providers can sue in federal court over the law, which was designed specifically to avoid judicial […]
Biden Administration Asks Supreme Court to Block Texas Abortion Ban
On Monday, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to block SB8, a Texas law banning abortion after six weeks. The administration claims the measure is unconstitutional, and that it was purposefully designed to evade judicial review. The law was allowed to be put into effect on September 1, after the Supreme Court refused to block […]
Appeals Court Puts Temporary Hold on Judge’s Order to Block Texas Abortion Ban
On Friday night, a federal appeals court placed a temporary hold on a federal judge’s order to block Texas’ SB8, an extreme, near-total abortion ban enacted last month. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Texas’ administrative stay request, after Judge Robert Pitman ruled to block the law last week, responding to a request from […]
Federal Judge Blocks Texas’ Abortion Ban
On Wednesday, a federal judge granted an emergency request from the Justice Department and blocked enforcement of Texas’s SB8, a law banning abortion after six weeks. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman said in his ruling that since SB8 went into effect in September, “women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives […]
Tens of Thousands of People Rally for Abortion Justice in DC and Throughout the US
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in DC on Saturday to protest Texas’s SB8, a recently passed law that bans 85% of abortions and gives private citizens the power to sue anyone who provides financial or logistical assistance to someone in getting an abortion. Washington, DC’s march started at Freedom Plaza, and marchers walked over […]
Florida Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Ban Most Abortions, Imitating Texas’s SB 8
On Wednesday, a Florida state representative introduced a bill that would ban most abortions in the state, mimicking the Texas six-week ban that went into effect earlier this month. Rep. Webster Barnaby (R) introduced HB 167 into the Florida state legislature. Like Texas’s SB 8, the Florida bill would ban abortion after six weeks of […]
Thousands of Haitians Deported from Texas While Some are Released into U.S. as Border Crisis Continues
Nearly 14,000 Haitian migrants have come to the U.S. border near Del Rio, Texas in recent days hoping to be admitted to the United States. The Biden administration has already deported over 1,000 people since the weekend, while some Haitians have been released into the U.S. for immigration processing. Haitian migrants have created an enormous […]
Texas Governor Signs Bill Restricting Medication Abortion Access
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Friday that will make it more difficult for people to access medication abortion in yet another move to eliminate abortion care in the country’s second-largest state. The law, SB 4, prohibits medication abortion for people seven or more weeks pregnant. Before the law, people could obtain […]
Texas Doctor Reveals He Violated the State’s Near-Total Abortion Ban
Dr. Alan Braid, a Texas OB/GYN, revealed Saturday that he had performed an abortion on a woman who was past six weeks of pregnancy, violating the Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Dr. Braid said he performed the illegal abortion to both care for his patient […]
Federal Judge Sets Hearing Date to Rule on Justice Department’s Emergency Request to Stop Texas Abortion Ban
A federal district judge in Texas announced Wednesday that a hearing date for October 1 has been set to rule on the Justice Department’s request for a preliminary injunction to block Texas’s abortion ban. The hearing date comes just after the Department of Justice filed an emergency motion Tuesday asking Judge Robert L. Pitman of […]
Justice Department Files Emergency Motion Asking Federal Judge to Block Texas’ Six-Week Abortion Ban
The Department of Justice asked a federal district judge Tuesday to block the enforcement of Texas’ new six-week abortion ban, which effectively eliminates all abortion access in the second-largest state. The Justice Department filed an emergency motion requesting that Judge Robert L. Pitman of the Western District of Texas implement a preliminary injunction and temporary […]
Texas Judge Issues New Injunction Preventing Anti-Choice Group from Enforcing Six-Week Abortion Ban
On Monday, a state judge in Texas issued an injunction blocking Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, from suing Planned Parenthood under Texas’s new six-week abortion ban, SB 8. Judge Karin Crump of the Travis County district court issued the injunction, which will stay in effect until April of 2022. It replaces […]
Department of Justice Sues Texas Over Law that Effectively Bans All Abortion
On Thursday, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas to challenge the state’s new law, SB 8, which prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, effectively banning all abortion in the state. “The Act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. “The United States has […]
Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signs Restrictive Voting Bill into Law
On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that will impose new voting restrictions on the people of Texas. The bill was passed by the Texas Legislature last week. The bill, called SB 1, will disproportionately limit voting access for people of color, people with disabilities, and elderly people in Texas. It bans drive-through […]
Texas Legislature Passes Restrictive Voting Bill
The Texas Legislature passed a bill on Tuesday that would restrict voting access across the state. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott is expected to sign the bill soon. The bill, SB 1, imposes several voting restrictions that would predominantly limit voting access for Black, Latinx, and voters with disabilities. It bans drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting, and […]