And so, the legal battle begins.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade now puts abortion legislation directly in the hands of states.
Texas was one of several red states that had trigger laws in place to ban abortion or place severe restrictions on abortion if Roe v. Wade was ever overturned.
The trigger laws do not take effect for about two months, but there was a pre-existing law that could be enforced immediately.
A Houston, TX, judge has told the state, not so quick, placing a temporary block on the legislation taking effect.
Not Yet…
The law was supposed to take effect on Tuesday.
After an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit was filed, the Harris County judge issued the TRO.
The suit claims that the law, which was in place before Roe v. Wade was decided, had already been “repealed” and was “unenforceable.”
Texas does have a trigger law in place, but that cannot be enforced until 30 days after the formal judgment has been issued.
While the opinion has been released, the formal decision will probably be released in about a month, which means the trigger law will go into effect 30 days after that decision is officially published.
The ACLU stated, “If plaintiffs are successful in blocking enforcement of the pre-Roe ban, some abortion providers in the state would resume abortion care up to six weeks, providing critical, if temporary, relief for Texans with a very early pregnancy as access to abortion has been decimated across the southern United States.”
The hearing for the pre-Roe law will be heard on July 12, when the judge decides to revoke or extend the TRO.
A similar suit has been filed in Louisiana, but that suit is to block a trigger law from taking effect.
In addition to Texas and Louisiana, 10 other states have trigger laws set to take effect once the formal decision is announced.
While these suits may find some empathy in the lower courts, every trigger law case is doomed for failure once it gets to the Supreme Court since the court just overturned Roe v. Wade.
The only way I can see these suits being successful would be in states where the state legislature was not the entity creating the laws, meaning executive orders by the governor.
If the legislature created the law in question, which is what the most recent Supreme Court ruling mandated, there is simply no way the Supreme Court can rule that these laws cannot be permitted to take effect.
Source: Fox News
