Enlarge image
Protests against the new abortion law in Texas
Photo: Jose Luis Magana / AP
Abortion is forbidden as soon as the fetus's heartbeat can be determined: this is the essence of the Texas abortion law, which has been in place for about two weeks.
The US Department of Justice finds the rule unconstitutional and has asked a federal court in Texas to block enforcement of the new abortion law in the state.
The Department argues in an urgency motion that Texas passed the law "to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights."
No state should prohibit a woman from "making the final decision about an abortion before the (fetus) is viable," the ministry said.
"But Texas did just that." Federal Judge Robert L. Pitman was assigned to the case.
The Department of Justice wants him to issue an injunction that would prevent Texas from enforcing the law.
The criticism of the law is based, among other things, on the fact that a heartbeat in the fetus can be detected as early as the sixth week of pregnancy.
Many women do not yet know that they are pregnant at this point.
Another extremely controversial aspect of the regulation is that it enables private individuals to take civil action against anyone who helps a woman with an abortion. This could affect abortion clinics or their employees, but also relatives of pregnant women or a taxi driver who takes the woman to the clinic. Successful plaintiffs will be rewarded with at least $ 10,000.
The Justice Department sued the state of Texas after the law went into effect.
"The law is clearly unconstitutional according to the longstanding case law of the Supreme Court," said US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
He referred to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court from 1973 that fundamentally legalized abortion.
According to Garland, Texan law contains an "unprecedented regulation" that turns private individuals into "bounty hunters".
Exceptions only for medical emergencies
The "Heartbeat Bill" only provides for exceptions for "medical emergencies", rape or incest are not included.
"The number one goal in the state of Texas is to eliminate rape," said Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The US Supreme Court rejected an urgent motion against the law.
The Supreme Court did not use substantive arguments, but rather procedural arguments.
The decision of the conservatively dominated court came with a slim majority of five of the nine constitutional judges.
After the bill was passed, US President Joe Biden announced that the federal government would immediately examine what it could do to keep women in Texas free to have access to abortions and to keep them - like health workers in the state - ahead of the "bizarre" new one Protect scheme.
svs / AP
