Austin, Texas, Jun 20, 2018 / 12:26 pm
The 23 bishops of Texas will not have to turn over emails and other communications to an abortion provider, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
The ruling came in response to a Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops (TCCB) appeal from an order from a trial court on Sunday requiring the bishops to hand over private documents to Whole Woman's Health, a chain of abortion facilities in the state.
Whole Woman's Health filed suit against the State of Texas two years ago over a law that requires aborted fetal remains to be either buried or cremated. Previously, the remains were treated as medical waste and thrown into a landfill.
Although the bishops are not party to the lawsuit, Whole Woman's Health attempted to acquire various communications from the TCCB concerning abortion. These included private email and internal communications between bishops.