The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit challenging the Texas abortion law, which Attorney General Merrick Garland called “unconstitutional” during a press conference on Thursday.
The Texas abortion law known as the Heartbeat Act/Senate Bill 8 or SB 8 is the most restrictive across the United States. This law prohibits abortion on a pregnant woman if a physician detects a fetal heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks into the pregnancy.
In his remarks, AG Garland noted that the Texas abortion law is very restrictive. He said, “SB8 bans nearly all abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy – before many women even know they are pregnant and months before a pregnancy is viable. It does so even in cases of rape, sexual abuse, or incest. And it further prohibits any effort to aid the doctors who provide pre-viability abortions or the women who seek them.”
Texas abortion law is a ” statutory scheme to nullify” the U.S. Constitution
AG Garland emphasized that the Texas abortion law is “clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent. He also noted that the state does not dispute that its controversial abortion law “violates Supreme Court precedent.”
