The US government has sued the state of Texas in a dispute over its new abortion law. “The law is clearly unconstitutional,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland (68) on Thursday when the lawsuit was announced. Garland referred to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 1973 that fundamentally legalized abortion.
“The Justice Department has a duty to defend the United States Constitution and uphold the rule of law,” Garland said. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Texas.
Private individuals should enforce the law
The country’s strictest abortion law went into effect earlier this month in Texas. The text, also known as the “Heartbeat Law”, prohibits abortions from the point at which the fetus’s heartbeat can be determined, i.e. from around the sixth week of pregnancy. Even in the case of rape or incest, the law does not provide for any exceptions.
There is also outrage that it is not the Texan authorities that are supposed to enforce the new regulations, but private individuals. Citizens are encouraged to sue those they suspect of assisting women with an abortion after the sixth week.
$ 10,000 reward
This could affect abortion clinics or their employees, for example, but also relatives of pregnant women or a taxi driver who takes the woman to the clinic. If convicted, plaintiffs will receive $ 10,000 to be paid by the convict.
The US Supreme Court rejected an urgent motion against the law. The Supreme Court did not use substantive arguments, but rather procedural arguments. The decision of the conservatively dominated court came with a narrow majority of five of the nine constitutional judges. (AFP)