CNA Staff, Aug 26, 2020 / 23:28 pm
Texas officials have asked the Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals to allow the state to enforce its ban on a certain type of second-trimester abortions, pending further court decisions.
The rule in question bars "dismemberment abortions," known medically as "dilation and evacuation" abortions. The procedure uses forceps and other instruments to kill and remove the unborn baby from the womb. The Texas legislature declared the procedure "brutal and inhumane."
While a panel at the New Orleans-based appellate court has already declined a motion to allow Texas to enforce the law, state officials are now asking the full appellate court to stay the decision. Republican-appointed judges outnumber Democratic-appointed judges on the court 12-5.
In June 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear arguments on a similar ban in Alabama after a federal judge blocked that law. However, on Aug. 7, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court's order against enforcement of four Arkansas abortion restrictions, including the state's dismemberment abortion ban.