A federal judge in the United States on Wednesday blocked the application of a strict anti-abortion law launched in Texas, which prohibits practically any interruption of pregnancy in that southern state.
The magistrate Robert Pitman thus accepted the request of the Government of Joe Biden, which, through the Department of Justice, had demanded the temporary suspension of the law promoted by the Republicans pending its constitutionality.
In his ruling, the judge ruled that the law "it has created an aggressive and unprecedented mechanism to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right ”.
Pitman claimed that the law "has illegally prevented women from exercising control over their lives" and that your court "will not allow this offensive deprivation to continue for another day".
Texas law allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against anyone who assists a pregnant woman with an abortion if they believe they are violating the ban and offers rewards of up to $ 10,000 to each plaintiff if they win the lawsuit.
That system has so far allowed Texas authorities to shirk responsibility for law enforcement, because the burden of implementation rests with those private citizens, and not with the conservative leaders who pushed for the veto.
It was this legal vacuum that allowed the law to come into force a month ago with the approval of the Supreme Court, despite the fact that it expressly contradicts the 1973 judicial decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States, known as "Roe versus Wade".
The Texas veto – which bans abortion from six weeks gestation, when many women still do not know they are pregnant – is the most restrictive of the 90 that have come into effect this year in territories across the country, promoted by conservative leaders. in state congresses.
In the hearing before Pitman on October 1, the Biden Government argued that with this law, in force since September 1, Texas "resorted to an unprecedented scheme supported by vigilantes".
Despite Pitman’s blocking, the state of Texas will most likely appeal the decision and take it before the Fifth Circuit court of appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, and then the case goes to the Supreme Court.
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