The Texas Heartbeat Act, in effect since September 2021, bans abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat except in medical emergencies. Instead of providing for enforcement by the state — which would likely be declared unconstitutional in court — the law relies on private lawsuits filed by citizens to enforce the ban. This framework allows for awards of at least $10,000 for plaintiffs who successfully sue those who perform or aid and abet abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Abortion providers immediately sued to block the law’s enforcement, but their arguments have largely been rebuffed in court, though the back-and-forth in the courts over the law makes for dizzying reading.
In a 5-4 decision issued Sept. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the law from taking effect, but in late October decided to consider two challenges— one brought by the federal government, and the other by abortion providers— to the law on an expedited basis.
The federal lawsuit, which the Department of Justice filed in early September 2021, resulted in the law being temporarily blocked Oct. 6. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then issued a ruling Oct. 8 reversing that decision, allowing the law to go back into effect.
The Justice Department then appealed to the Supreme Court, which on Dec. 10, 2021 dismissed the case as being improvidently granted, meaning the case should not have been brought before it.
The April circuit court ruling comes following a March 2022 ruling by the Texas Supreme Court, which found nothing in the legislation itself granting licensing officials the authority to enforce the law, “either directly or indirectly.” The abortion providers had argued that state medical licensing officials had the power to enforce the law, which would have been unconstitutional. Instead, the Texas Supreme Court decision noted, the act expressly excludes state officials from those who can bring civil suits to enforce the act.
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