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  WATCH

News This Week: 10/3 - 10/9

On Wednesday night, a federal district court judge in Austin blocked Texas’ abortion ban (S.B. 8) at the request of the Department of Justice.

  • U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman called the Texas law “an unprecedented and aggressive scheme to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right.” He also wrote, “From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution.”
  • Texas officials have already said they will appeal the injunction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • The law had been in effect for 36 days and had decimated abortion access in the state, overwhelming clinics in bordering states.

On Tuesday, the Center filed a lawsuit in Illinois asking a federal judge to block three lawsuits filed against Dr. Alan Braid, the San Antonio doctor who violated Texas’ abortion ban.

  • In that case, the Center has asked the court to declare S.B. 8 unconstitutional. 
  • Dr. Alan Braid published an op-ed in The Washington Post last month explaining his decision to violate the law.

In Oklahoma on Tuesday, a judge temporarily blocked two abortion bans from going into effect, but refused to block three other abortion restrictions that are set to take effect November 1.

  • Laws blocked include a ban on abortion after six weeks and another that serves as a defacto total ban on abortion by deeming providing abortions "unprofessional conduct" by doctors. 
  • Not blocked was a law that requires all doctors who perform abortions to be board-certified OB-GYNs and two other laws that create restrictions on medication abortion.
  • The Center will be appealing the decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

This week, the Biden administration issued a new rule that reverses the Title X gag rule.

  • The final rule, set to go into effect November 8, eliminates the Trump administration policy that banned facilities that provide abortion or refer for abortion services from receiving federal Title X funds. This will help restore the Title X provider network.
  • The rule also strengthens confidentiality requirements for minors, ensures patients can receive complete and unbiased information, and sets new standards for health equity. 

Coming Up

SCOTUS to hear oral arguments in Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dec. 1)

Did You Know?

Native American women experience the highest rates of sexual and domestic violence in the country: more than half of Native women have reported being sexually assaulted, and more than 80% will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, according to statistics in an amicus brief filed by Native American leaders and organizations in support of Jackson Women’s Health Organization in the Center’s upcoming Supreme Court case.
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