Judge v. Justices: The Obama Appointee Who Overruled the Supreme Court

A federal judge just issued a 113-page order striking down the heartbeat bill that was put in place by the Texas legislature that bans abortions once a heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks. As we told you, the Supreme Court refused to block an abortion ban in Texas, but Planned Parenthood couldn’t accept that and went back to the federal judge who then decided to block this abortion ban at President Biden’s request.
ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil explained what the Texas Heartbeat Act exactly means:
"So in this law, basically Texas stated that once a heartbeat is detected, it is unlawful for a doctor to perform an abortion. So, the catch is, it is not the state that is going to enforce it. It is going to be an individual that enforces it. That is what has caused the problem. There is really no one to enjoin. [The abortion industry] can’t enjoin the state. Who do they enjoin? And that’s the problem. It stops abortions once a heartbeat is detected, but the enforcement is in the hands of an individual."
There are a series of pro-life cases coming up through the courts. There is the Dobbs v. Jackson case over the legal fallacy of Roe v. Wade, South Dakota’s informed consent case, and the Texas heartbeat case.
As these abortion cases pop up, there’s also a Capitol Hill fight happening over the Hyde Amendment. ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett explained the political landscape in Washington, D.C.:
"All of these fights in the states really are set against the backdrop of the debate that is taking place in Washington, D.C. There is an all-out assault right now . . . on these state efforts not only to just regulate abortion . . . many of these efforts are actually for the benefit of the woman seeking an abortion, whether it is an ultrasound, whether it is making sure the facilities have certain safety standards. . . . Those are the types of laws that are taking place in those state legislatures. . . . The state has different standards, well that’s appropriate in this situation. But, Washington, D.C., is trying to stop that. In addition to the Hyde Amendment fight . . . the House of Representatives has actually already passed a bill. They call it the Women’s Health Protection Act, but it’s really the Abortion on Demand Act. . . . What that bill would do is wipe those state laws off the books, and it would say to every state across the country you can’t enact any restriction going forward. And that is the D.C. backdrop against which all of these states are engaging."