Abortion Advocates Bring New Lawsuits Against Texas Pro-Life Law

Abortion advocates are taking cases to court and suing several pro-life organizations in challenges to Texas’s pro-life law. 

The law in question is S.B. 8, which prohibits abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which typically occurs around six weeks of pregnancy. 

Several efforts have been made by pro-abortion groups to sue in order to block the law, but the challenges have met hurdles due to the structuring of the legislation. 

As The Daily Wire previously reported, “The Texas law allows citizens to sue abortion providers and those who ‘aid and abet’ illegal procedures for a financial reward if the lawsuit is successful.”  

The specific language of the law has presented complications for pro-abortion groups who have struggled to find the correct people to sue, as was evident in a recent decision from Texas’s Supreme Court. 

Earlier this month, as The Daily Wire reported, “Texas’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled against abortion supporters on Friday, dealing a final blow to a challenge to the state’s abortion ban.”

“Texas law does not grant the state-agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly,” the court ruling said. “Senate Bill 8 provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law.” 

“Based on these provisions,” the court continued, “we conclude that Texas law does not grant the state-agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly.”

The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that a lawsuit could continue in the state of Texas in an effort to block the law, but it was allowed to continue to stand. 

New lawsuits, however, might prove to be more successful for those who wish to block the law and allow abortions to take place after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. 

As The Washington Post reported, the Lilith Fund and the North Texas Equal Access Fund are suing the America First Legal Foundation and the Thomas More Society in federal court, and two private citizens in Texas state court. 

The funds “provide financial, emotional, and logistical support for abortion patients all over Texas,” per one of the lawsuits.

The lawsuit noted that the fund groups “bring this lawsuit to protect themselves, their staff, their volunteers, and their donors from [Thomas More Society’s] unlawful attempts to intimidate Plaintiffs and prevent them from exercising their rights under the U.S. Constitution.”

Among other requests, in both of the challenges, the groups want the courts to declare that “the private civil enforcement procedures of SB8 are unconstitutional, void, of no effect, and therefore not usable …”

The lawsuits were filed in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, which means they will not go through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is known for being more conservative and has decided to keep the pro-life law in the past. “If the lawsuits are appealed, they would instead be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,” the Post noted. 

Two days after the fund groups filed their challenges, state Representative Briscoe Cain (R) put forward cease and desist letters to all Texas abortion funds, saying they are “criminal organizations.” 

“It is a crime to pay for another person’s abortion in Texas, and anyone who gives money to these abortion funds will be prosecuted,” Cain wrote. He also said he was planning to introduce a measure next session that would “ensure that abortion providers and funds are prosecuted for their crimes even when they reside in counties where the local district attorney refuses to enforce the state’s abortion laws.” 

Today, I sent cease-and-desist letters to abortion funds and Citigroup informing them of current abortion laws in Texas. Abortion funds think they can flout the law because a local district attorney refuses to bring charges. We’ll fix this problem next session. #txlege pic.twitter.com/jvf1WgCetM

— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 (@BriscoeCain) March 18, 2022

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