德克萨斯州奥斯汀——拜登政府再次敦促法院介入并暂停德克萨斯州的一项新法律，该法律自9月初以来禁止了大多数堕胎，因为数百英里外的诊所仍在忙于接待长途跋涉去接受治疗的德克萨斯州患者。
周一的最新尝试是在美国第五巡回上诉法院恢复美国最严格的堕胎法三天后进行的，此前上周，得克萨斯州堕胎服务提供者在下级法院做出严厉裁决后，匆忙再次引入患者，时间长达48小时。
未来几天可能是决定这项名为“参议院第8号法案”的法律近期前景的关键，包括是否有另一个让美国最高法院介入的尝试。
一旦检测到心脏活动，德克萨斯州的法律禁止堕胎，这通常是在六周前，一些妇女甚至不知道自己怀孕了。尽管其他共和党控制的州也有类似的早期堕胎禁令，但被法院阻止，德克萨斯州的法律被证明是持久的，因为该州将执法权完全下放给了普通公民，如果他们成功起诉堕胎提供者，他们可以获得至少1万美元的损害赔偿。
司法部告诉上诉法院:“如果得克萨斯州的计划是允许的，那么任何宪法权利都不会免受州政府批准的这种破坏。
在似乎是给最高法院的信息的措辞中，司法部提出了这样的担忧，即如果允许成立，在颁布法律时建立的法律结构甚至可能被用来规避最高法院在2008年和2010年关于枪支权利和竞选资金的裁决。
目前还不清楚第五巡回法院何时会决定是否延长目前允许德克萨斯州法律存在的临时命令。法院让德克萨斯州总检察长办公室在周四之前对司法部的最新论点做出回应。
就在德克萨斯州的一些堕胎服务提供者上周迅速采取行动，再次为过去六周的患者实施堕胎手术时，总部位于新奥尔良的上诉法院在审查此案时撤销了这一命令。德克萨斯州最大的堕胎服务提供者计划生育组织周一晚上在一份单独的文件中向法院转达了许多德州妇女受到法律影响的故事，包括一名患者，他们说这名患者只有12岁。
“俄克拉荷马州的工作人员正在加班照顾德克萨斯州拒绝堕胎的病人，”计划生育律师告诉法庭。
自近半个世纪前具有里程碑意义的罗伊诉韦德案判决以来，德克萨斯州的法律是美国对堕胎的最大限制。最高法院1992年的一项决定阻止各州在胚胎存活期之前禁止堕胎，胚胎存活期是指胎儿能够在子宫外存活的时间，大约在怀孕24周左右。但是，由于其新颖的执行方案，德克萨斯州的法律至今没有被法院阻止。
拜登政府在上个月该法律生效后起诉了德克萨斯州。德克萨斯州官员为这些限制辩护，称他们没有能力阻止个人提起诉讼。这些限制是共和党州长格雷格·艾伯特(Greg Abbott)在5月份签署的。
Justice Department again presses to halt Texas abortion law
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Biden administration is again urging the courts to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions since early September, as clinics hundreds of miles away remain busy with Texas patients making long journeys to get care.
The latest attempt Monday came three days after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the nation's most restrictive abortion law after a brief 48-hour window last week in which Texas abortion providers — following a blistering ruling by a lower court — had rushed to bring in patients again.
The days ahead could now be key in determining the immediate future of the law known as Senate Bill 8, including whether there is another attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court weigh in.
The law bans abortions in Texas once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually at six weeks and before some women even know they are pregnant. Although other GOP-controlled states have had similar early bans on abortions blocked by courts, the Texas law has proved durable because the state offloads enforcement solely onto private citizens, who can collect at least $10,000 in damages if they successfully sue abortion providers.
“If Texas’s scheme is permissible, no constitutional right is safe from state-sanctioned sabotage of this kind,” the Justice Department told the appeals court.
In wording that seemed to be a message to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department raised the specter that if allowed to stand, the legal structure created in enacting the law could be used to circumvent even the Supreme Court’s rulings in 2008 and 2010 on gun rights and campaign financing.
It is not clear when the 5th Circuit court will decide whether to extend what is currently a temporary order allowing the Texas law to stand. The court gave the Texas attorney's general office until Thursday to respond to the Justice Department's latest arguments.
Just as some Texas abortion providers last week quickly moved to once again perform abortions for patients past six weeks, the New Orleans-based appeals court set that order aside while it reviews the case. Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in Texas, relayed to the court in a separate filing Monday night numerous stories of Texas women impacted by the law, including one patient who they said was only 12 years old.
"Oklahoma staff are working overtime to care for Texas patients denied abortions," attorneys for Planned Parenthood told the court.
The Texas law is the nation’s biggest curb to abortion since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision nearly a half-century ago. A 1992 decision by the Supreme Court prevented states from banning abortion before viability, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. But the Texas law has so far evaded being blocked by courts because of its novel enforcement scheme.
The Biden administration sued Texas over the law last month after it went into effect. Texas officials have defended the restrictions, which were signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, saying they have no ability to stop private individuals from bringing lawsuits.
