AUSTIN — Today, the District Court for Travis County granted a temporary restraining order against Texas Right to Life and its associates, stopping them from suing abortion providers and health care workers at Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas under the newly in-effect “sue thy neighbor” abortion ban, S.B. 8. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, to go into effect on Wednesday. Millions of Texans are now without access to abortion, and providers and support networks are vulnerable to malicious lawsuits.
The temporary restraining order was filed by Planned Parenthood South Texas Surgical Center, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Surgical Health Services, Planned Parenthood Center for Choice, and Planned Parenthood Center for Choice abortion provider Dr. Bhavik Kumar. Under the temporary restraining order, Texas Right to Life, its legislative director John Seago, and anyone acting in concert with them is barred from bringing lawsuits against Planned Parenthood, Dr. Kumar, and employees of the Texas health centers under S.B. 8’s private enforcement provision while litigation against the unconstitutional law continues.
S.B. 8 is already decimating abortion access in the state, as providers are forced to turn people away under the six-week abortion ban. Historically, the overwhelming majority — 85 to 90 percent — of Texans who obtain abortions in the state are at least six weeks into pregnancy. Under S.B. 8, the nation’s first six-week abortion ban allowed to take effect, few will be able to receive care in the state, forcing patients to bear the financial and emotional cost of traveling elsewhere for essential care, and during a pandemic. For many Texans, particularly those who are Black or Latinx, who have low incomes, or who live in rural areas, abortion will be completely unattainable.
Statement from Helene Krasnoff, vice president for public policy litigation and law, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:
“We are relieved that the Travis County district court has acted quickly to grant this restraining order against Texas Right to Life and anyone working with them as deputized enforcers of this draconian law. This restraining order offers protection to the brave health care providers and staff at Planned Parenthood health centers throughout Texas, who have continued to offer care as best they can within the law while facing surveillance, harassment, and threats from vigilantes eager to stop them. But make no mistake: this is not enough relief for Texas. Planned Parenthood will continue fighting for the millions of Texans affected by S.B. 8., doing everything we can under the law to restore Texans’ federal constitutional right to access abortion.”
Earlier this week, the Travis County court issued restraining orders against Texas Right to Life on behalf of several individual plaintiffs in several separate cases. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed S.B. 8 to take effect on Wednesday, disregarding 50 years of precedent by denying an emergency request to block S.B. 8 and its pre-viability abortion ban.
Plaintiffs are represented by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Kaplan Law Firm, PLLC, and Waters & Kraus, LLP.
tableleg7 on September 4th, 2021 at 03:50 UTC »
It’s important to note that this ruling did not affect the ban on abortions after the 6th week of pregnancy or any part of the new Texas law, except for one section as it applied to one organization.
This ruling was simply that one group (Texas Right to Life) is temporarily ordered not to bring lawsuits against Planned Parenthood under the new “sue thy neighbor” provision of the Texas abortion law.
MalcolmLinair on September 4th, 2021 at 02:00 UTC »
It hardly matters; all this group needs to do is disband and re-incorporate under a new name. Boom! No more restraining order! This law is so absurdly over reaching and so blatantly weighted against the defendants that there's simply no way to avoid hemorrhaging money.
JennLegend3 on September 4th, 2021 at 01:32 UTC »
https://www.plancpills.org/
https://aidaccess.org/
r/auntienetwork is also super helpful if you need advice or someone to talk to
These sites offer access to abortion pills, even in Texas. Please be safe and be aware of clinics (e.g. Crisis Pregnancy Centers) that give out dangerous misinformation on abortions and pregnancy.
If you've seen me comment this before, hi again! Sorry if this is annoying, but I'm putting this on as many relevant posts as I can to get the information out there. Feel free to join me!
Credit to u/Cilantro666 for allowing me to copy/paste this incredibly important information! We CANNOT allow this to become some sort of norm in our society!
Edit: u/DiggerDudeNJ I will absolutely not stop spamming this everywhere. You can fuck right off if you think this is virtue singaling, this is basic human rights. And you wouldn't actually know this but I have received at least 3 pms from women in TX(still reading through them). As well as a text message from a friend who lives down there and is trying to help his younger sister. So I repeat...I WILL NOT STOP!