Texas’ ban on most abortions is likely to stay in effect for the foreseeable future, opponents fighting the law said Monday night, after a federal appeals court ruled against sending the case back to the only judge who has ever blocked the restrictions.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily transferred the case to the Republican-controlled Texas Supreme Court in a 2-to-1 decision, according to The Washington Post, postponing the decision for months.
“This court reasonably seeks the Texas Supreme Court’s final word on the matter,” wrote Judge Edith Jones, joined by Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, nominees of former Presidents Reagan and Trump, respectively.
Abortion clinics fear the case will now languish for weeks if not months, and maybe not until after the US Supreme Court makes a ruling in a Mississippi case that could roll back abortion rights across the country, according to the Associated Press.
“There is now no end in sight for this injustice that has been allowed to go on for almost five months,” said Nancy Northup, president, and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is suing over the Texas law.
The Texas abortion law has been in effect since September 2021 and is one of the strictest in the country. The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually at around six weeks, and before many women know they are pregnant.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court kept the law in place and allowed only a narrow challenge against the restrictions to proceed.
Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, celebrated the decision. “This is great news!” the group tweeted, reports CBS News, saying the case will now go to one with a “Pro-Life majority.”
