Current:Home > ContactTradeEdge-A judge has ruled Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications -Capitatum
TradeEdge-A judge has ruled Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications
EchoSense View
Date:2025-04-06 09:27:12
AUSTIN,TradeEdge Texas (AP) — A Texas judge ruled Friday the state’s abortion ban has proven too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.
The ruling is the first to undercut Texas’ law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement.
“For the first time in a long time, I cried for joy when I heard the news,” lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski said in a statement. “This is exactly why we did this. This is why we put ourselves through the pain and the trauma over and over again to share our experiences and the harms caused by these awful laws.”
The challenge is believed to be the first in the U.S. brought by women who have been denied abortions since the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years had affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.
The state is expected to seek a swift appeal and has argued that Texas’ ban already allows exceptions, calling doctors’ fears of prosecution unfounded.
“Today’s ruling should prevent other Texans from suffering the unthinkable trauma our plaintiffs endured,” said Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which helped bring the lawsuit. “It would be unconscionable for the State of Texas to appeal this ruling.”
The immediate impact of State District Judge Jessica Mangrum’s decision was unclear in Texas, where all abortion clinics have shuttered in the past year. During two days of emotional testimony in an Austin courtroom, women gave wrenching accounts of learning their babies would not survive birth and being unable to travel long distances to states where abortion is still legal.
The court has been clear: doctors must be able to provide patients the standard of care in pregnancy complications. That standard of care in certain cases is abortion because it is essential, life-saving healthcare. This decision is a win for Texans with pregnancy complications, however Texas is still denying the right to abortion care for the vast majority of those who seek it.”
The challenge, filed in March, does not seek to repeal Texas’ abortion ban, but instead aims to force more clarity on when exceptions are allowed under the law, which is one of the most restrictive in the U.S.
Under the law in Texas, doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000. Opponents say that has left some women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy.
The majority of U.S. adults, including those living in states with the strictest limits on abortion, want it to be legal at least through the initial stages of pregnancy, according to a poll released in late June by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
veryGood! (14)
Related
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- How does inflation affect your retirement plan?
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Pi Day
- Penguins postpone Jagr bobblehead giveaway after the trinkets were stolen en route to Pittsburgh
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Elon Musk abruptly scraps X partnership with former CNN anchor Don Lemon
- Tennessee House advances bill requiring local officers to aid US immigration authorities
- Lindsay Lohan Reveals the Real Reason She Left Hollywood
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Small businesses are cutting jobs. It's a warning sign for the US economy.
Ranking
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- These Top-Rated Teeth Whitening Products Will Make You Smile Nonstop
- Can smelling candles actually make you sick?
- UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman from hospital bed: ‘I’m the happiest man in the world’
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- San Diego Padres acquire Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease
- Connecticut considering barring legacy admissions at private colleges, in addition to public ones
- Cockfighting opponents in Oklahoma worry support is growing for weakening the state's ban on the bloody sport
Recommendation
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
Spilling The Swift Tea: Sign up for the Taylor Swift newsletter
A critical Rhode Island bridge will need to be demolished and replaced
Biden says he would sign TikTok bill that could ban app
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
A Georgia woman died after trying to get AirPod from under conveyor belt, reports say
Olivia Culpo Reveals She Was Dismissed By At Least 12 Doctors Before Endometriosis Diagnosis
Olivia Munn, 43, reveals breast cancer, double mastectomy: What to know about the disease