The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals court late Friday night temporarily reinstated Texas’ “heartbeat” abortion law after an Obama-appointed judge suspended the law earlier this week.
U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Robert Pitman, an Obama appointee on Wednesday called Texas’ abortion law an “offensive deprivation” in his order.
The “heartbeat” law effectively outlaws abortions in the state after 6 weeks and also gives any citizen – including those outside Texas – the right to take legal action against anyone who ‘aids and abets’ the termination of a pregnancy after the cut off point.
A three-judge panel placed an administrative stay on a federal judge’s injunction and gave the DOJ until Tuesday to respond.
CBS News reported:
A Texas law that bars abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy can continue for the time being, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said late Friday. The ruling comes two days after a federal judge temporarily prohibited the state from implementing the law through a preliminary injunction.
The decision comes hours after Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, filed a motion asking the court to either stop the preliminary injunction or to temporarily pause it while considering the first request.
A three-judge panel granted the second request, placing an administrative stay on the injunction while it considers Texas’ larger argument. The Department of Justice now has until Tuesday to respond to Texas’ motion.