Biden govt to ask SC to block Texas abortion law

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IANS | 16 Oct, 2021
US President Joe Biden's administration is planning to ask the Supreme Court to block Texas' highly controversial near-total abortion ban.

"The Justice Department (DOJ) intends to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the Fifth Circuit's stay of the preliminary injunction against Texas Senate Bill 8," Xinhua news agency quoted Anthony Coley, a spokesman for the Department, as saying to the media.

The Biden administration argues that the private enforcement regime is a transparent attempt to shield what they see as a blatantly unconstitutional ban and that if the scheme were allowed to stand, could allow states to undermine other constitutional rights in similar ways, according to a report by The Hill news outlet.

A three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 late Thursday night that the state law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy can remain in effect while it hears the Biden administration's legal challenge.

The Texas law, which was signed into law in May by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, also prohibits most abortions, even in cases of rape, sexual abuse, or incest.

It prohibits any effort to aid, or any intent to aid, the doctors who provide the prohibited abortions or women who try to get one.

The law has unique enforcement provisions allowing private citizens, rather than state officials, to sue abortion providers.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in December in Mississippi's bid to overturn 1973's landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman's right to an abortion.