Texas abortion providers were granted a temporary restraining order against an anti-abortion group seeking to enforce the state’s restrictive new law

OSTN Staff

A woman wears a mask that says 'No forced motherhood'
A woman protests in New York City on August 1, 2021, over the new Texas abortion law.

Texas abortion providers including Planned Parenthood were granted a temporary restraining order against Texas Right to Life and its associates on Friday, Bloomberg Law reported.

The restraining order bans the anti-abortion group from suing abortion providers and health care workers under Texas’ new restrictive abortion law, which the Supreme Court refused to block in a 5-4 ruling issued Wednesday.

In the filing asking for the restraining order, Planned Parenthood said the anti-abortion group’s “threatened implementation of the six-week ban and its enforcement scheme, as well as S.B. 8’s fee-shifting provision, would cause imminent, irreparable injury” to abortion providers.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the Texas District Court for Travis County said the law created a “probable, irreparable, and imminent injury in the interim” to abortion providers, who would have no legal remedy if subjected to private enforcement lawsuits under the new law.

SB 8 or the Texas Heartbeat law, went into effect on Wednesday and banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks, well before many women know they are pregnant. The overwhelming majority of Texans – 85-90% – who obtain abortions are at least six weeks into pregnancy, according to a Planned Parenthood news release.

The law also allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion. Those who win their case could win a minimum of $10,000 in addition to attorney fees.

Texas Right to Life set up a website in July that would allow people to anonymously provide tips about people obtaining abortions despite the law. The site has been spammed with fake tips.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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