The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an emergency application Monday asking the Supreme Court to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban after an appeals panel ruled Thursday the ban can stay in place.
“Texas is not the first state to question Roe and Casey,” the emergency application says. “But rather than forthrightly defending its law and asking this Court to revisit its decisions, Texas took matters into its own hands by crafting an ‘unprecedented’ structure to thwart judicial review.”
BREAKING: The Justice Department has filed its emergency application asking the Supreme Court to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban.
The filing is here: https://t.co/iMHQxg7C8R https://t.co/YxOW0mLRxh
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) October 18, 2021
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Thursday The Heartbeat Act can remain in place while it considers an appeal of a previous ruling that blocked the enforcement of the rule.
Under the legislation, women are prohibited from getting an abortion once a heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs around the six-week mark. The law provides narrow exceptions for cases in which the pregnancy could endanger the mother’s life. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
The DOJ argues the Texas law is “clearly unconstitutional” and denies Texas women “their constitutional rights.”
The DOJ is asking the court to vacate the recent stay while the suit makes its way through the judicial system. (RELATED: ‘It Was A Game’: ‘Roe’ Baby Says She Will Never Forgive Her Biological Mother For Trying To Use Her For Attention)
Abortion providers filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court to block the law from taking effect, with the court refusing to intervene, allowing the law to go into effect Sept. 1.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Sept. 9 the administration would sue the state over the law. The Biden Administration scored a brief win when a federal judge halted the enforcement of the law in early October after the DOJ then asked for the law to be blocked and called for a temporary restraining order or injunction.
Texas, however, quickly appealed to the Fifth Circuit.