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 a temporary restraining order against Texas Right to Life that was issued last week and would have expired Thursday.
The injunction prevents Texas Right to Life, as well as anyone associated with the organization, from suing Planned Parenthood abortion providers and clinic staff under the six-week abortion ban. The law is enforced by private citizens who are empowered to sue anyone suspected of helping someone obtain an abortion after six weeks.
Helene Krasnoff, vice president for public policy litigation and law for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, praised the injunction, but said it was not enough to combat the catastrophic effects of SB 8.
“After nearly two weeks with S.B. 8 in effect, the law’s devastating impact is clear. Desperate Texans are being forced to carry pregnancies against their will or flee the state to seek constitutionally protected care, and brave health care providers and staff across the state are working hard to provide care within the law while facing surveillance, harassment, and threats,” she said in a statement.
“This temporary injunction is an important step, but it is not enough relief for our staff and the seven million women of reproductive age in Texas for whom abortion care remains virtually inaccessible,” she continued. “Planned Parenthood and its partners will continue fighting S.B. 8 in court and working to restore Texans’ access to abortion.”
Sources: CNN 9/13/21; Feminist Newswire 9/7/21; Planned Parenthood 9/13/21
