President Joe Biden and his administration are, once again, begging the judiciary to put a stop to Texas’s newest anti-abortion law, S.B. 8 or the Texas Heartbeat Act.
Breitbart reports that Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ), on Monday, filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to halt the enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act until the legal challenges to the law can be heard.
“Allowing S.B. 8 to remain in force would irreparably harm those interests and perpetuate the ongoing irreparable injury to the thousands of Texas women who are being denied their constitutional rights,” the DOJ’s brief reads.
The DOJ goes on to argue that the Texas Heartbeat Act is “clearly unconstitutional” in that it denies the women of Texas “their constitutional rights.”
Background
The Texas Heartbeat Act, as its name suggests, bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is typically around week six of the pregnancy. The act has an unusual enforcement mechanism in that it allows the citizens of Texas to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers and anyone who aids and abets abortions.
Despite a plethora of legal challenges, the Texas Heartbeat Act has been in effect now since September 1st, except for one 48-hour period when a district court halted its enforcement. That decision, though, upon appeal, was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The Biden administration first announced that it was suing the state of Texas over its Heartbeat Act on September 9th. Since then, it has been trying to get the courts to stop the enforcement of the Heartbeat Act until the case could be heard in full.
Except for that one district court decision, though, it has failed. This most recent request specifically asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court decision, while the case is being heard on its merits.
Looking ahead
Just before its enactment, the Texas Heartbeat Act was challenged by activists who were trying to stop the law from going into effect. That challenge made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided not to block the law.
It’s important to note, though, that at no point did the U.S. Supreme Court rule on the law’s merits.
In addition to its request for the Texas law to be halted, the DOJ is also asking the U.S. Supreme Court to just take the case on in full, skipping the lower courts.
It’s unclear what the U.S. Supreme Court’s response is going to be here. But, reports suggest that we will not have to wait long before finding out.
The post Pres. Biden’s DOJ asks SCOTUS to halt Texas’s Heartbeat Act first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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