The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case that women have been suing the state for years over its many abortion bans. The suit was first brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights in March. It was made by women who say that the state’s many bans put their lives in danger.
Texas has several laws against abortion that make it illegal to have almost any kind of abortion, except in certain medical situations that the laws don’t explain. The women who are suing say they were not given care even though they had dangerous health problems.
According to the lawsuit, one of the bans, SB 8, makes it illegal to have an abortion after cardiac activity is discovered, which usually happens around six weeks of pregnancy. This kept some of the plaintiffs from getting care even though their pregnancies were not viable.
The state’s highest court will decide if a partial block of Texas’ abortion bans can go into effect. This would let abortions happen again in medical situations and cases where the fetus is fatal while the case is being heard. A lower court judge made a decision in August that briefly stops the implementation of abortion bans in cases of medical emergencies and fatal fetal anomalies while the lawsuit continues.
This decision was made after hearing emotional testimony from some of the women who filed the suit. When state officials filed an appeal, that decision was put on hold right away. The Texas Supreme Court will also make a decision on the request of the state’s attorneys to throw out the whole case.
The injunction was given by Judge Jessica Mangrum of the lower court. The state had asked her to throw out the case, but she refused. The case will go back to the district court to be heard if the Texas Supreme Court does not grant the state’s request to drop the case in whole or in part.
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“It’s possible that the Texas Supreme Court will agree with the state and say that pregnant people in Texas can only get help by telling their lawmakers to make a change.” “That way, it wouldn’t send the case back to the district court, so we have to look for other options,” Nick Kabat, an attorney with the CRR, told ABC News earlier this month.
The Center for Reproductive Rights brought this case after five women did so in March. Since then, more women have joined the case. Twenty of the 22 claimants are women who say the bans have hurt them, and two are doctors who are suing on behalf of themselves and their patients. The lawsuit asks the court to temporarily and forever stop Texas’ abortion bans because it’s not clear what the exceptions to the laws mean.