translated from Spanish: Biden Administration Mobilizes to Protect Abortion Rights in Texas

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, ordered on Thursday to mobilize all the resources available to his Government to protect the right to abortion in Texas, after the entry into force of a law that practically prohibits this type of interventions in the state. The president lashed out in a statement against the country’s Supreme Court, which with a reinforced conservative majority, decided last night not to block that rule, which came into force on Wednesday and prohibits abortion at six weeks of gestation. Biden has called on the Gender Policy Council and the White House Attorney’s Office for “a comprehensive government effort,” involving the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to “ensure that women in Texas have safe and legal abortions.” The new Texas rule bans abortion at six weeks gestation, when the fetal heartbeat can be detected and many women don’t yet know they’re pregnant; and does not provide for exceptions in cases of incest or rape. In addition, it allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against anyone who helps a pregnant woman have an abortion if they believe they violate the ban and offers compensation of up to $10,000 to the plaintiff if she wins the trial. The legislation was signed last May by the state’s governor, Republican Greg Abbott, after it received the go-ahead from the conservative-controlled House and state Senate. Shortly after its entry into force, the country’s Supreme Court last night chose not to block the law, with a tight result 5-4, which meant a rejection of the emergency request filed by several clinics and medical professionals in that state to stop the rule. Biden lamented that the new legislation empowers individuals in Texas “to denounce health care providers, family members who support the woman who exercises her right to choose after six weeks or even the friend who takes her to the hospital or clinic.” And he complained that, thanks to that rule, from now on in that state a complete stranger can meddle in “the most private and personal decisions that a woman faces about her health,” in addition to encouraging her with the prospect of earning $ 10,000 if she wins the case. BIDEN WARNS OF “UNCONSTITUTIONAL CHAOS” The measure “unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers individuals to stand up as law enforcement with devastating effects,” Biden warned.Abortion was recognized as a constitutional right in the U.S. in 1973 thanks to the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. in which he acknowledged that a woman can end her pregnancy during the first six months of gestation. No other law similar to Texas’ that prohibits abortions after six weeks of gestation — such as those in Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio and Kentucky — has gone into effect in the country. Texas’s is different from other legislations, because instead of relying on public officials for compliance, it allows individuals to denounce those who help pregnant women receive an intervention. Until now, activists and clinics had managed to stop the application of anti-abortion laws, because the normal thing in a complaint that seeks to block a law if it considers it unconstitutional is to cite government officials as defendants, but in this case it is not possible because it is individuals who sue. Despite the blow that the Supreme Court’s resolution has meant, several organizations and clinics of reproductive services in Texas that presented the emergency request before the high court promised this Thursday that they will continue to plant battle. Patients are ‘DESPERATE’ The president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, Amy Hagstrom Miller, whose organization runs four clinics in Texas, said in a statement that her patients are “scared, confused and desperate” trying to figure out what they can do to get an abortion in the state. Hagstrom Miller said his medical staff is also afraid, though he said his clinics, which remain open, are complying with the ban. Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents clinics in court, criticized the Supreme Court for its refusal to block a law that “flagrantly violates Roe v. Wade.” He denounced that Texas politicians have succeeded for the time being in “circumventing” the rule of law with abortion restrictions and forcing patients to leave the state, if they have the means, to achieve “constitutionally protected health care.” He still warned that they will continue to fight the ban in Texas until access to abortion is restored in the state.

Original source in Spanish