TALLAHASSEE (Fla. aEUR”) The Texas Supreme Court stopped a lower court’s order that clinics could perform abortions. This was just days after doctors saw patients again following the fall Roe v Wade.
According to the ACLU, the current order does not permit criminal enforcement of Texas’ virtual abortion ban but allows civil enforcement. It wasn’t immediately clear if Texas clinics which had resumed seeing patients earlier this week would be halted from services again. A hearing is planned for later in the month.
The chaos in Texas was illustrated by the rapid response of clinics to turn away patients, reschedule them and then potentially cancelling appointments once again aEUR”, all within a span of one week.
A Houston judge had earlier this week issued an order allowing clinics to temporarily resume abortions until six weeks after the due date. The order was immediately followed by Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, who asked the highest court of Texas, which has nine Republican justices to temporarily suspend the order.
Marc Hearron, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, stated that the law was confusing, unneeded, and cruel after Friday’s order was made.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas clinics had stopped offering abortions to the state’s nearly 30 million residents. Texas technically had an abortion ban in effect for 50 years, while Roe was in force.
Patients and abortion providers across the country struggled Friday to navigate the changing legal landscape surrounding access and laws.
A Florida law prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks was put into effect Friday. This came after a judge declared it a violation to the state constitution. He said that he would temporarily block the law and sign an order blocking it next week. The South could see wider implications as the state has greater access to the procedure than its neighbours.
In Kentucky, abortion rights were lost and gained in a matter of days. The so-called trigger law, which imposed a near-total ban, went into effect Friday. However, a judge blocked it Thursday. This means that the state’s two abortion providers can now resume seeing patients at aEUR”
Americans who seek abortions will continue to face chaos due to legal disputes. Court rulings can change access in a flash and new patients can overwhelm providers.
Even if women are not allowed to have an abortion in a state other than the one they live in, there may be less options for them to terminate their pregnancies. The possibility of prosecution could follow them.
Planned Parenthood of Montana has stopped offering medication abortions to patients who reside in states that ban them “to minimize the potential risk for providers and health center staff as well as patients in the face of rapidly changing landscapes.”
Planned Parenthood North Central States offers the procedure in Minnesota and Iowa. It tells its patients that they must use both the pills in the regimen in a state which allows abortions.
“There is a lot of confusion, concern, and that providers might be at risk. They are trying to limit liability so they can care for people who need it,” Dr. Daniel Grossman, who heads the research group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, University of California San Francisco.
Emily Bisek is a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood North Central States. She said that they had to inform patients in an “unknown” and “muddled” legal environment. This means they have to be in a legal state to perform the medication abortion aEUR. This requires two drugs to be taken 24 to 48 hours apart. She stated that most patients coming from states where there are bans on abortions will opt for surgical abortions.
Since 2000, abortion pills have been the most popular method of ending a pregnancy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone aEUR”, the main drug used for medication abortions. It is combined with misoprostol (a drug that causes cramping and empties the womb), to form the abortion pill.
Access to abortion pills is a major battleground. The Biden administration is preparing to argue that states cannot ban medication approved by the FDA.
Kim Floren, who runs an South Dakota abortion fund called Justice Empowerment Network said that the new development would limit the options available to women and increase the likelihood that more people will travel to Colorado for an abortive procedure.
Floren stated that the purpose of all laws is to scare people. He referred to states’ bans against abortions and telemedicine consultations in order for them not be able to perform medication abortions. These laws are difficult to enforce, but Floren said that they depend on people being scared.
Friday’s South Dakota law will make it a crime to prescribe medication for abortions without a South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners license.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is an outspoken opponent to abortion and stated in a statement that doctors who knowingly violate the law and prescribe these drugs to end a person’s life will be charged.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that his office is looking into whether individuals or groups could be charged with helping women travel to outside-of-state abortion clinics.
Yellowhammer Fund, an Alabama-based organization that assists low-income women to cover travel and abortion costs, announced it will be suspending operations for two weeks due to a lack of clarity in state law.
“This is a temporary suspension, and we’re going figure out how legally we can get you money, resources, and what that looks like,” stated Kelsea McLain (Yellowhammer’s director of health care access).
Laura Goodhue is the executive director of Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. She said that staff members at its clinics have seen patients drive from Texas to Florida without making an appointment or stopping. She said that women who have been pregnant for more than 15 weeks will be asked to provide their contact information. A judge will sign an order temporarily blocking the restriction.
However, it is possible that the temporary order will not be in effect and the law could come back into force later. This would create additional confusion.
She said, “It’s terrible to patients.” “We are very nervous about what’s going to happen.”
