Texas abortion law ruled unconstitutional

[Olowkow]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...sial-texas-abortion-law-unconstitutional?lite

Giant win for Texas, and a fail for Rick Perry, the religious right wing and in effect for the Republican party. It's about time.

In a stunning move, a federal judge Monday ruled that abortion restrictions authorized by Texas lawmakers in July are unconstitutional, and will not be implemented as scheduled on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

This ruling points out just how disingenuous the right wing politicians have come to be.

"The admitting-privileges provision of House Bill 2 does not bear a rational relationship to the legitimate right of the state in preserving and promoting fetal life or a woman's health and, in any event, places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her," Yeakel wrote in his decision.

Legal recognition finally of the woman's right, "...a substantial obstacle [to] an abortion and...an undue burden to her."

 

[Travis]

Darn activist judges thinking women have rights to their own body.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Completely off topic, but where did that reporter learn, or not learn as the case may be, grammar? Unless the judge's name really is Monday!

 

[Kopji]

Well they will of course appeal, so this is not over. The judge was appointed by GW Bush and confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote. Charges of liberal activism are going to be difficult, this sounds more like a highly respected judge from both sides of the aisle.

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Earl_Yeakel
http://www.txwd.uscourts.gov/general/judges/biographyview.asp?bID=29

On the unanimous recommendation of Texas U.S. Senators Kay Bailey-Hutchinson and John Cornyn, Yeakel was nominated by President George W. Bush on May 1, 2003 to a seat vacated by James Nowlin as Nowlin assumed senior status. Yeakel was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 28, 2003 on the same day Kathleen Cardone was confirmed. Yeakel was unanimously confirmed on a 91 to 0 vote in the Senate.

 

[Kopji]

Completely off topic, but where did that reporter learn, or not learn as the case may be, grammar? Unless the judge's name really is Monday!

A little bit awkward but reads ok to me. Just a guess but it might have been inserted by an editor; the sentence could do without it altogether. The day will be more useful information as events unfold.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel decided Monday that the regulations requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital impeded...

 

[angrysoba]

Completely off topic, but where did that reporter learn, or not learn as the case may be, grammar? Unless the judge's name really is Monday!

It seems to be commonly used, at least in US news reporting, where the preposition "on" is presumably not considered necessary:

"it was decided Monday"

https://www.google.co.jp/search?sou...l=hp....0.0.1.6813389...........0.880sDDqKq_o

Similarly, in British and New Zealand English we find it strange to see no "to" inserted in "he wrote me".

Hence, "he wrote me Monday" is clearly grammatical in US English:

https://www.google.co.jp/search?sou...s_l=hp....0.0.0.10812...........0.K4hRnjXrf7I

 

[thaiboxerken]

Well they will of course appeal, so this is not over. The judge was appointed by GW Bush and confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote. Charges of liberal activism are going to be difficult, this sounds more like a highly respected judge from both sides of the aisle.

GW isn't in the Tea Party, therefore he appointed a librul activist judge.

 

[Olowkow]

The decision against abortion obstructionism by Texas republicans was welcome, and I was anxious to see what the reaction would be by Wendy Davis who is running to replace the Perry machinery with some rational thought, he said hopefully.

Of course, she has to be cautious because Texas voters have been whipped into such an anti abortion frenzy over the years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...bortion-from-wendy-davis-as-you-might-expect/

As the Houston Chronicle’s Kiah Collier observed, missing from Davis’s response was the word “abortion.” Collier writes:

“Texas families are stronger and healthier when women across the state have access to quality health care,” the statement read. “I’m not surprised by the judge’s ruling. As a mother, I would rather see our tax dollars spent on improving our kids’ schools than defending this law.”
Asked whether the reference to health care in the first sentence includes abortion procedures, Davis spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña said, “No.”
​

 

[MattusMaximus]

Well they will of course appeal, so this is not over. The judge was appointed by GW Bush and confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote. Charges of liberal activism are going to be difficult, this sounds more like a highly respected judge from both sides of the aisle.

No, the charges of "liberal activism" will fly regardless.

 

[Kopji]

No, the charges of "liberal activism" will fly regardless.

I was thinking more of the unanimous approval in the Senate.

I do find it a little amusing how hard it is to get a good reliable conservative ideologue as a judge.

They've passed a similar law in Arizona. Women in rural areas need to take about a three day trip to even see a doctor about an abortion.

 

[lobosrul]

They've passed a similar law in Arizona. Women in rural areas need to take about a three day trip to even see a doctor about an abortion.

3 days?? If they're travelling by horseback maybe. You can travel from Phoenix to New York City by bus in under 3 days.

 

[Kopji]

It is a six hour round trip from flagstaff to Phoenix. There is a 24 hour waiting period between consultation and an abortion. These laws are discriminatory against rural residents.

 

[Kopji]

And the Texas law was mostly upheld by a temporary court.

 

[Olowkow]

Yep, court of appeals reinstates most of the previous law.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-reinstates-texas-abortion-restrictions-20748957

A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect while a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moves forward. The panel issued the ruling three days after District Judge Lee Yeakel said the provision serves no medical purpose.

I think the court's appeal process should leave the injunction in place until the issue is settled. Ugly stuff, this religion in government business.

 

[Kopji]

I think that more women should be angry about these "TRAP" laws. The one part that remains suspended sounds innocent - strictly follow FDA regulations about medicine 'abortion pills'. The reality is that the FDA regulations are obsolete and create an unneeded, expensive burden on women. They are not based on current medical evidence. The level of medicine they prescribe is now commonly viewed as about 3 times the needed dosage. Since the most common side effect of the drug is excess bleeding - the FDA "recommendation" is probably unsafe - nobody follows it. To prescribe following their rules needlessly endangers women in favor of a principle - they want to outlaw abortions. This talk about caring for the health of women is cynical nonsense.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/16/2/gpr160207.html
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/16/1/gpr160118.html