A Dozen Facilities could Stop Abortions Today as Appeals Court Lets Pro-life Texas Law Go Forward

Ben Johnson : Nov 1, 2013
LifeSiteNews.com

The law will go into effect immediately, pending a full court hearing anticipated in January.

(New Orleans, LA)—As many as 12 abortion facilities will not be able to perform any abortions starting today, after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court and ruled that all the provisions of a Texas pro-life law could go into effect immediately.

The ruling came just three days after U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel struck down sections of H.B. 2, the bill that took center stage in the culture wars this summer.

Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and a coalition of state abortionists sued over two of the law's key provisions, requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility and to follow FDA guidelines in administering RU-486.

The pro-life bill passed this summer despite an 11 hour filibuster by State Sen. Wendy Davis.

Judge Yeakel ruled Monday that tightening the quality of care "places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her."

In a unanimous 20-page decision, a panel acknowledged that the law "may increase the cost of accessing an abortion provider and decrease the number of physicians available to perform abortions," but added that "the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion" does not invalidate the law.

The law will go into effect immediately, pending a full court hearing anticipated in January.