Judge strikes down Texas ban on common abortion procedure
by Shannon Najmabadi, Texas Tribune
A federal district judge handed a victory to abortion rights groups Wednesday when he struck down part of a Texas law curbing access to the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, called dilation and evacuation.
In a decision that will be appealed before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Lee Yeakel said the provision imposes an "undue burden" on women seeking second-trimester abortions in the state.
It had been slated to go into effect Sept. 1 as part of Senate Bill 8, a law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this year. But the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood filed suit in July on behalf of several women’s health providers in the state. Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order on enforcing the measure in August, a day before the ban's effective date.
The temporary restraining order was set to expire Wednesday evening.
With the ruling in place, abortion providers may continue using the dilation and evacuation method without first ending the fetus’ life – the state requirement that reproductive rights advocates say is unnecessary and risky to the mother. Opponents call the dilation and evacuation procedure, where doctors use surgical instruments to grasp and remove pieces of fetal tissue, inhumane and brutal.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/22/judge-strikes-down-texas-ban-common-abortion-procedure/
